Website: aon.com/canada
Head office address (Canada): 20 Bay St., Toronto, ON M5J 2N8
Year established: 1982
Ownership structure: publicly traded (NYSE: AON); incorporated in Ireland
Target market/client profile: employers, plan sponsors, and pension administrators in Canada seeking risk, retirement, and health solutions
Number of professional staff: over 50,000 globally
Canadian office locations: Toronto (head office), Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria, St. John's, Corner Brook, Burlington, London, Thunder Bay, and Windsor (18 offices across eight provinces)
Aon is a professional services firm that advises on commercial risk, pensions, and employee benefits across Canada and globally. Its Canadian retirement practice works with more than 350 clients and advises on over $77 billion in plan assets.
The company's total revenue reached US$17 billion for 2025 with clients in more than 120 countries.
Aon formed in 1982 when Chicago insurance executive Patrick Ryan's group merged with the Combined Insurance Company of America. The combined firm focused on insurance brokerage and expanded quickly through acquisitions across the US.
The company adopted the name "Aon" in 1987, from a Gaelic word meaning "one." That new name signalled a push toward a unified global brand.
Aon acquired Reed Stenhouse in 1997, a Canadian insurance brokerage with roots going back more than a century. The deal gave the firm a national network of offices across Canada.
The company then bought Hewitt Associates, a pension and benefits consulting firm, for US$4.9 billion in 2010. That deal created Aon Hewitt and made the firm a major force in retirement and health consulting.
The firm launched its Canadian Pension Risk Tracker in 2013 to monitor the funded status of DB plans. It then sold its HR outsourcing arm to private equity company Blackstone in 2017 for US$4.8 billion.
That sale created Alight Solutions and refocused the company on advisory and analytics. The company completed its largest deal in 2024 by acquiring NFP, a middle-market broker, for US$13 billion.
Benefits and Pensions Monitor (BPM) reported in 2025 that more than 1,200 Aon employees took part in a GLP-1 weight loss program with a 95 percent retention rate. It then invested in eMed Population Health to bring the program to more employers.
The firm's Canadian Pension Risk Tracker put the funded ratio for DB plans above 111 percent as at March 2026. Nathan LaPierre, partner for Wealth Solutions in Canada, told BPM that plans stayed steady despite market swings in the first quarter.
Aon provides health and benefits consulting, retirement and investment advisory, and commercial risk brokerage across Canada:
Aon acts as a broker and consultant rather than an insurer or underwriter. The firm also publishes the Canadian Benefits Guide as an annual reference for plan sponsors.
Greg Case is president and CEO of the company and has led the firm since 2005. He ran the global insurance and financial services practice at McKinsey & Company before joining Aon. Case has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree from Kansas State University.
Case leads the firm alongside these senior leaders (as of April 2026):
Lester B. Knight chairs Aon's board of directors as non-executive chairperson. Knight is also founding partner of Roundtable Healthcare Partners.
Other directors include Jeffrey C. Campbell, Jin-Yong Cai, Cheryl A. Francis, Byron Spruell, and Admiral James Stavridis.
The board oversees strategy, risk, and governance for Aon and its global operations. It runs four standing committees: Audit, Governance/Nominating, Organization and Compensation, and Finance.
The company's Canadian clients include employers, plan sponsors, and multinationals across a range of industries. Aon's Wealth Solutions and investment teams serve those clients from seven cities across the country.
The firm also publishes annual research on health costs, benefits design, and pension plan trends for plan sponsors. Aon's 2025 Global Benefits Trends Study found that only 14 percent of multinationals have frameworks to offer the benefits their employees want.
Aon has earned industry recognition in Canada and has been featured in Benefits and Pensions Monitor awards programs:
Aon formed its Indigenous Services Group (ISG) in 2006 to serve First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities across Canada. The group provides risk management and insurance solutions to Indigenous governments, health services, and education authorities.
The company also runs a reconciliation commitment in Canada aligned with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. Lespérance's election as Insurance Institute of Canada board chair in 2025 is one example of the firm's leaders taking on industry governance roles.
Aon tracker shows funded ratio dips to 111.4% as assets fall and discount rates rise
Survey says Canadian employers now face medical plan costs rising more than four times faster than inflation, driven by chronic conditions, pricier drugs, and heavier use of care
Pension plans boost funded ratios to 112.6% as assets rise and liabilities ease
Most employers aren't adequately informed or equipped to deal with employees facing critical illness, warns Desjardins
The pension plans reached a 112.5% funded status
Over 1,200 employees joined Aon's GLP-1 program, losing 22 pounds on average with high retention
Aon finds only 14% of multinationals have frameworks to scale benefits employees actually want
Only 19% of companies feel ready for pay transparency, with compliance driving the push
Canadian pension funding climbs to 109% as assets rise and discount rate strengthens
