Website: wtwco.com/en-ca
Head office address (Canada): 130 King Street West, Exchange Tower, Suite 1500, Toronto, ON M5X 1E3
Year established: 1828
Ownership structure: publicly traded (Nasdaq: WTW); global operations managed under WTW parent company
Target market/client profile: employers, plan sponsors, pension funds, institutional investors, and multinational corporations seeking advisory and broking solutions in people, risk, and capital management
Number of professional staff: around 47,000 globally
Canadian office locations: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) is a global advisory and insurance broking firm that works across people, risk, and capital. The firm covers group benefits, retirement, compensation consulting, and insurance broking across sectors. It reported US$9.7 billion in revenue for 2025 and serves clients in more than 140 countries.
WTW draws from two separate professional traditions: insurance broking and actuarial consulting. The broking side started in 1828, when Henry Willis began his career as a commodity merchant at London’s Baltic Exchange.
Willis joined Lloyd’s of London in 1841, where he brokered cargo insurance and later founded Henry Willis & Company. The actuarial side grew at the same time as firms in the US and UK developed that consulting discipline.
The Willis and Faber firms combined in 1898 under the name Willis, Faber & Co. The firm merged again with Dumas & Wylie in 1928 to become Willis, Faber & Dumas.
Willis, Faber & Dumas listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1976 and entered the US retail market in 1990. R. Watson & Sons and The Wyatt Company allied as Watson Wyatt in 1995 and formally merged in 2005.
The two paths converged in 2010, when Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt merged to form Towers Watson. That deal brought two major HR and actuarial consulting firms under one roof.
Willis Group and Towers Watson merged in 2016 to create Willis Towers Watson. The company rebranded as WTW in 2022 to show its identity as a single advisory and broking firm.
In Canada, the firm has built its presence partly through active market research and industry publications. Willis Towers Watson’s 2025 Benefits Trends survey found that 73 percent of Canadian employers named benefit costs as their top concern that year.
That was up from 40 percent in 2023 and pointed to a sharp shift in plan sponsor strategy. Anne-Marie Nawar, WTW’s Canadian benefits insights leader, also spoke to Benefits and Pensions Monitor that year about how communication gaps were limiting plan value.
WTW’s Canadian offices offer the following consulting and broking specialties:
Towers Watson, a WTW business, says it acts as global actuary for more than 300 multinational companies. Willis Towers Watson places its Canadian insurance and broking services through Willis Canada Inc., a licensed entity under the firm’s umbrella.
Chad Hiley serves as Willis Towers Watson’s Canadian head, leading the firm’s work and rewards practice in the country. He has more than 20 years of experience in executive compensation and governance advisory at the board level. Hiley holds a master’s degree in accounting and business from the University of Waterloo.
Willis Towers Watson’s Canadian leadership under Hiley includes:
Carl Hess leads WTW globally as CEO, a role he took on in 2022 after succeeding John Haley. The firm’s Canadian operations are split between regional market leaders and practice-area heads across benefits, retirement, investments, and broking.
Willis Towers Watson works with employers, plan sponsors, pension funds, and institutional investors across a range of industries. The firm’s Canadian clients include large multinational corporations and mid-size employers.
Willis Towers Watson’s broking arm places coverage in sectors such as:
WTW also serves clients in aviation and space, marine, life sciences, and technology.
Willis Towers Watson publishes regular research for Canadian plan sponsors and institutional investors. The firm’s Thinking Ahead Institute reported that global pension assets hit a record US$58.5 trillion as of December 2024, as mentioned in BPM’s 5-Star Technology list.
WTW also publishes the Pension Index Canada, which tracks funding conditions for Canadian defined benefit plans. The index gained 2.7 percent in the second quarter of 2025, as cited in BPM’s Hot List 2025.
Willis Towers Watson and its Canadian staff have received recognition from industry groups and trade publications across benefits, pensions, and insurance. The firm is also involved in sustainability commitments and inclusion initiatives at the global level.
Willis Towers Watson runs global and regional inclusion and diversity councils as part of its talent strategy. The firm’s annual sustainability reporting covers environmental stewardship, workforce practices, and governance standards. WTW is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a pledge made in 2021.
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