Western Financial Group CEO Grant Ostir Charts Bold Growth Strategy After 90 Days at the Helm
HIGH RIVER, Alberta, April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western Financial Group ("Western") today announced that Chief Executive Officer Grant Ostir unveiled a transformative growth strategy following his first 90 days in the role. The plan aims to double the company's customer base over the next five years by enhancing service excellence, prioritizing customer convenience, and implementing innovative operational changes across the organization.
Grant brings over two decades of experience with Western to the position, is implementing cross-functional, journey-based teams designed to better align with how customers prefer to interact with the company—whether digitally, in-branch, or through specialized outbound services.
"The insurance landscape is rapidly evolving, and Western is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation," said Grant. "By reorganizing around customer journeys rather than traditional department silos, we're creating a more responsive organization that can adapt quickly to changing customer expectations while maintaining the personal touch that has defined Western for over a century."
This strategic shift comes at a pivotal time for the Canadian insurance industry, which faces record-setting climate challenges, the rise in use of AI, and a distinct contrast between commercial and personal line markets. Since assuming the CEO role in December 2024, Grant has been conducting a comprehensive review of operations, meeting with team members across Western's 200+ locations, and refining the company's approach to growth, performance and care.
"I'm confident and excited about the goals we can achieve and the great work we can do to continue being a leader in the insurance brokerage industry," Grant added. "It’s an honor to work with such passionate, hard-working, and caring people, who understand the importance of putting our customers first, providing them with the best advice and the most care, while making it as easy and convenient as possible. We always think about what the customer wants, bettering the customer experience across on-site and off-site experiences. Our structure is built around how customers want to do business with us, whether it’s through digital, in-branch, or specialized outbound teams. This reflects Western’s innovative strength, allowing us to mobilize and adapt quickly to meet customer needs."
A Western veteran who previously served as Chief Growth Officer since 2022, Grant brings unique insights from his experience across Commercial, Personal, Employee Benefits, and Financial Services product lines. His leadership group is focusing on empowered employee engagement and introducing operational efficiencies that will support frontline team members in delivering exceptional service.
"Overcoming great challenges leads to the most fulfilling rewards, and we have the people here who I'm confident will help us reach these audacious goals," said Grant. "You only get to live once—why not be a person who drives change and impacts the lives of others for the better?"
About Western Financial Group Inc.
Headquartered in High River, Alberta, Western Financial Group is a diversified insurance services company that has provided over one million Canadians with protection for over 100 years. Western is committed to community service, customer service, innovation, growth, and people while providing personal and business insurance through our engaged team of over 2,000 people in over 200 communities, affiliates, and various connected channels.
Since the very beginning, supporting our local communities has guided everything we do—it's who we are. In 2001, the Western Financial Group Communities Foundation (our non-profit charity) was created as a way for our team members to give back and positively impact the people and pride in the places where we live, work, and play. To date, we have granted over $9 million back into our communities.
Western Financial Group is a subsidiary of Trimont Financial Ltd., a subsidiary of The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company.
