When Louis Gagnon started his Executive MBA at the University of Ottawa, Telfer School of Management, he had no idea one of the six consulting projects in the program would shape the rest of his career.
After spending nine years with the Royal Bank, Louis decided to join his father-in-law’s insurance brokerage. At the time, he was juggling a lot both personally and professionally. He was learning an entirely new industry and had also made a decision to go back to school for an Executive MBA. He also welcomed his first son. "It was a busy time," he says with a laugh.
Louis wasn’t going back to school to earn a credential. Coming from a family of teachers, he loved learning and dreamed about completing a PhD and becoming a professor one day. He already had strong financial expertise, but he wanted to broaden his business knowledge in an academic setting. The decision to do his EMBA led to a project that had a much bigger impact on him than he would have ever imagined.
Solving a real business problem
During the early 1990s the insurance industry was going through significant consolidation. Brokerages were buying other brokerages, and the family business Louis had joined was involved in these acquisitions. When it was time to choose a topic for his individual consulting project in the EMBA, he chose to focus it on a challenge he was encountering at work - how do you estimate the value of an insurance brokerage?
His research led to a financial valuation model comprised of key variables that assess a brokerage's worth. He designed the model to be practical so decision-makers could and would use it. He earned a high mark on the project, but Louis didn’t file it away after completing it. "I wanted to know what other insurance companies thought of the model," he says. So, he mailed his completed paper to the CEOs of three major Canadian insurance companies and asked for their feedback.
One phone call
Two companies never responded. The third company, ING, didn't send a letter back. Instead, the CEO called Louis and asked to meet with him. He saw value in Louis’ work and was intrigued to learn more about the model. The conversation between the two turned out to be the beginning of a long professional relationship. ING went on to finance Louis’ acquisition of insurance brokerages, which allowed him to continue growing his business. Fourteen years later, ING called Louis wanting to have another important conversation with him. This time, it wasn't about a project. It was about a job offer.
Louis GagnonFrom entrepreneur to industry leader
After 14 years as an Insurance Broker, Louis decided to sell his business and start a PhD in Organizational Behaviour. Around the same time, he had a conversation with ING who offered him a senior leadership role. It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. He concluded the sale of his business, set aside his doctoral plans, and joined ING. He became part of the small leadership team responsible for guiding the company's transition to what is now Intact Insurance. “It was a unique experience that gave me the opportunity to put into practice much of what I learned in the EMBA program,” Louis says.
From there, his career continued to accelerate. He served as Senior Vice-President for Quebec before becoming President of Intact Insurance, overseeing the company's broker distribution business, which represented roughly 80 per cent of its operations at the time. Following Intact's acquisition of RSA in 2020, he was appointed CEO of the Canadian operation.
Looking back, he sees a direct line connecting the EMBA project to his career today.
Lessons beyond finance
While the project opened unexpected doors, Louis says the EMBA gave him much more than that. One strategy professor challenged his class to debate complex business issues. “Those discussions were eye opening and were definitely a highlight. We were always coming out of that class with more knowledge of the world, knowledge of all the intricacy that comes with the decision-making process, and the building of strategy.”
He also credits the organizational behaviour course with changing the way he thinks about leadership. As someone with a finance background, the content of this subject didn't come to him naturally at first. Louis says this course taught him the importance of putting the right people in the right roles and understanding how different personalities and perspectives strengthen organizations.
His own EMBA team also reflected this. His teammates came from government, the Air Force, private industry, and other sectors, exposing him to ways of thinking he might never have encountered otherwise. "It gave me a real appreciation for different perspectives," he says.
The project lives on
Perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is that Louis’ EMBA project never really ended. “My career as CEO of Intact Insurance began with that EMBA project paper I wrote several years ago. It was this project that gave me an opening to approach CEOs of insurance companies, which then led me to building a relationship with ING, now Intact Insurance. And you know what? The model I developed is still being used in the company today to evaluate insurance brokerages.”
And what became of his dream to be a doctoral candidate? As it turns out, in June of 2026, the University of Ottawa presented Louis Gagnon with an Honorary Doctorate for his achievements and contributions to business and for being an inspiring role model for graduating students. You can’t write a better story than that!
About the author — Jennifer Hyland
Jennifer’s role is to establish and to maintain the Executive MBA Program’s relationship with its alumni by building networking opportunities, supporting employment search, promoting alumni participation, managing the alumni database, maintaining communications with alumni, and assisting in planning and implementing alumni activities. Her other duties include working with the director on special projects, managing Convocation, and overseeing the Telfer Executive MBA Referral Program. A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English and a minor in Theatre Arts as well as a Bachelor of Education.
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