A
fter rising to the top of the title insurance game, Tom Grifferty Enthusiastic and ready to start, Tom turned to a friend, a corporate lawyer
admits people are still much more interested in hearing about his
former air traffic control position than anything he could tell them
about his multi-million dollar title insurance business, even though the latter,
in many ways, has required more nerves of steel, unwavering determination,
endless patience, and a strong sense of faith that things would just work out.
©Photo credit: Cris Ponce / envisiondigitalphoto.com
“Eventually the entrepreneur in me began to outweigh the guy who really
likes air traffic control,” explains Tom. When an opportunity to meet Parker
Kennedy, CEO of First American Corporation based in the United States
came up, Tom was game. Encouragement came from his cousin’s husband,
an employee of First American Title. It was his opinion that Parker would
be open to having someone look into expansion across the border. Finding
himself in the right place at the right time, thirty minutes into the meeting
with Parker, Tom was instructed to return home, retain a law firm, and look
into what was required to build a title insurance company in Canada.
Title insurance protects a homeowner or small business owner’s “title” -
- which is their right of property ownership. Approximately one million
title insurance policies are issued in Canada each year. This type of insurance
protects homeowners from matters such as tax arrears, mortgage fraud,
condominium special assessments and faulty renovations carried out by
previous owners.
Real estate title fraud is one of the most recent pressing reasons why title
insurance is necessary. Today, many real estate transactions are carried
out electronically, and parties do not meet face-to-face. This has created
an increased potential for deception. First Canadian Title has changed its
underwriting practices to identify and prevent such transactions from closing,
protecting its parties from becoming victims of fraud-related claims.
Vehicle Title Insurance provides protection to lenders and consumers on
loans where the underlying security involves certain classes of motor vehicles.
Services Provided for Lawyers and Lenders:
. Service Options for Lawyers – are provided by First Canadian Title that
make the property conveyancing process simpler, safer and faster.
. Registration Gap Coverage for Lawyers – allows lawyers to close
transactions and release funds despite closure of registry offices and the delay
of document processing (applying to severe weather and other emergencies.)
. Mortgage Transactions – the process has been streamlined to bring
consistently high levels of accuracy, safety and speed to lenders.
. Guaranteed Valuation Services – a product designed to protect lenders
from inaccurate property valuations at the time loans were issued.
. Purchase Mortgage Solution – provides lenders with a single point of
contact for instruction, title insurance, funding and reporting.
. Residential Refinance Mortgage Program – enables lenders to fund
mortgages in as little as two hours.
. Chattel Title Insurance - provides protection to lenders, and is a simpler,
more secure and less expensive way to process loans where the underlying
asset taken as security is personal property.
. Personal Property Security Insurance - protects the lender from losses
stemming from loans secured by non-real estate collateral where the losses are
due to a variety of defects.
(The above information was taken from First Canadian Title’s Annual Report of 2003.)
12 Stir Media Magazine
in a successful downtown firm, for help in researching a report on how land
is conveyed in Ontario and whether or not title insurance might work. Six
weeks later, a report arrived at his door, only its contents did not prove to
be what Tom had expected. Yet something inside pressed him to continue
pursuing his goal, in spite of the nine pages that clearly stated why title
insurance would never work in Canada.
Somehow Tom managed to convince the author of the report, Ed Frackowick,
to look into title insurance for him a bit more. Only after attending a First
American Title meeting in California for three days, much of which consisted
of talking to a room full of lawyers to his heart’s content, did Ed begin to see
a glimmer of hope that there might be something to the idea. At the time,
Tom didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon, as he was still uncertain as to
whether Ed was serious, or whether he was just up for another paid trip out
to California! Obviously Ed only had good intentions, as today he is known in
the title insurance business as the co-founder of First Canadian Title.
The first twelve to fourteen months consisted of working through different
aspects of the business and hearing only discouraging feedback from mortgage
lenders, lawyers, and developers alike. “Mortage lenders would say, ‘We don’t
have any title problems.’ The law firms that dealt with mainly real estate really
hated the idea, and developers really weren’t interested in any process that
would be more expensive,” explains Tom.
By the summer of 1987, just over a year later from his initial visit out to
California in the fall of 1988, the annual American land title conference
held in Toronto prompted Tom to address the issue of First American Title
becoming licensed in Canada.
“The best advice I ever received came from the example set by the current
president and chairman of the board for First American Title, Parker Kennedy,
and his father, Don, who ran the company from 1950 to 1990,” Tom relates. “I
look at the integrity these two men have and I am always amazed at how they
only move forward with decisions that feel right. I often think about what
they would do in a certain situation and knowing that, I’m always steered
in the right direction. It may cost the company more money in the end, but
doing the right thing always proves to be the invaluable decision.”
In order for a foreign insurance company to become licensed in Canada, the
regulation for title insurance states that a fee must be paid; the sum of which
is deemed appropriate by the Minister of Finance. Expecting to be asked to
pay a fee of about two hundred thousand dollars, Tom found the sound of the
words “one million dollars” grating to his ears.
“Right away Parker said to me that if it were up to him, he’d put up the million
dollars to get a license,” Tom relays, “but it was still something he had to
discuss with his dad, the president and chairman of the board at the time.”
Only a couple of hours passed before a decision was reached. “Parker came
down to see me after speaking with his dad and told me they were putting up
the money for the licensing fee. The next night was the last time I walked into
the air traffic control center an employee,” Tom grins.
However, the licensing process did not prove to run as smoothly as the
decision-making process of the Kennedy’s, adding the government to the list
of groups that continued to be opposed to title insurance. “There were three
title insurance companies licensed in Canada before us that had never done
any business,” explains THOMAS H. GRIFFERTY
Tom. “The government Chief Executive Officer
couldn’t understand why
another failing company
made business sense.” FIRST CANADIAN TITLE
Even after two years of
www.stironline.com
 Pilot Project
by Birgit Moenke
“Years ago I attended a business luncheon, when I
was still working as an air traffic controller. One
of the gentlemen made a remark that an air traffic
controller would make an excellent employee
because of his quick decision-making skills.
Also, once the decision was made, an air traffic
controller would be practiced in seeing
it through to make it work.”
-Tom Grifferty
A
fter rising to the top of the title insurance game, Tom Grifferty
admits people are still much more interested in hearing about
his former air traffic control position than anything he could
tell them about his multi-million dollar title insurance business,
even though the latter, in many ways, has required more nerves of steel,
unwavering determination, endless patience, and a strong sense of faith that
things would just work out.
“Eventually the entrepreneur in me began to outweigh the guy who really
likes air traffic control,” explains Tom. When an opportunity to meet Parker
Kennedy, CEO of First American Corporation based in the United States
came up, Tom was game. Encouragement came from his cousin’s husband,
an employee of First American Title. It was his opinion that Parker would
be open to having someone look into expansion across the border. Finding
himself in the right place at the right time, thirty minutes into the meeting
with Parker, Tom was instructed to return home, retain a law firm, and look
into what was required to build a title insurance company in Canada.
Title insurance protects a homeowner or small business owner’s “title” -
- which is their right of property ownership. Approximately one million
title insurance policies are issued in Canada each year. This type of insurance
protects homeowners from matters such as tax arrears, mortgage fraud,
condominium special assessments and faulty renovations carried out by
previous owners.
Real estate title fraud is one of the most recent pressing reasons why title
insurance is necessary. Today, many real estate transactions are carried
out electronically, and parties do not meet face-to-face. This has created
an increased potential for deception. First Canadian Title has changed its
underwriting practices to identify and prevent such transactions from closing,
protecting its parties from becoming victims of fraud-related claims.
Vehicle Title Insurance provides protection to lenders and consumers
on loans where the underlying security involves certain classes of motor
vehicles.
Services Provided for Lawyers and Lenders:
. Service Options for Lawyers – are provided by First Canadian Title that
make the property conveyancing process simpler, safer and faster.
. Registration Gap Coverage for Lawyers – allows lawyers to close
transactions and release funds despite closure of registry offices and the delay
of document processing (applying to severe weather and other emergencies.)
. Mortgage Transactions – the process has been streamlined to bring
consistently high levels of accuracy, safety and speed to lenders.
. Guaranteed Valuation Services – a product designed to protect lenders
from inaccurate property valuations at the time loans were issued.
Stir Media Magazine
. Purchase Mortgage Solution – provides lenders with a single point of
contact for instruction, title insurance, funding and reporting.
. Residential Refinance Mortgage Program – enables lenders to fund
mortgages in as little as two hours.
. Chattel Title Insurance - provides protection to lenders, and is a simpler,
more secure and less expensive way to process loans where the underlying
asset taken as security is personal property.
. Personal Property Security Insurance - protects the lender from losses
stemming from loans secured by non-real estate collateral where the losses are
due to a variety of defects.
(The above information was taken from First Canadian Title’s Annual Report of
2003.)
Enthusiastic and ready to start, Tom turned to a friend, a corporate lawyer
in a successful downtown firm, for help in researching a report on how land
is conveyed in Ontario and whether or not title insurance might work. Six
weeks later, a report arrived at his door, only its contents did not prove to
be what Tom had expected. Yet something inside pressed him to continue
pursuing his goal, in spite of the nine pages that clearly stated why title
insurance would never work in Canada.
Somehow Tom managed to convince the author of the report, Ed
Frackowick, to look into title insurance for him a bit more. Only after
attending a First American Title meeting in California for three days, much
of which consisted of talking to a room full of lawyers to his heart’s content,
did Ed begin to see a glimmer of hope that there might be something to the
idea. At the time, Tom didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon, as he was
still uncertain as to whether Ed was serious, or whether he was just up for
another paid trip out to California! Obviously Ed only had good intentions,
as today he is known in the title insurance business as the co-founder of First
Canadian Title.
The first twelve to fourteen months consisted of working through different
aspects of the business and hearing only discouraging feedback from
mortgage lenders, lawyers, and developers alike. “Mortage lenders would
say, ‘We don’t have any title problems.’ The law firms that dealt with mainly
real estate really hated the idea, and developers really weren’t interested in
any process that would be more expensive,” explains Tom.
By the summer of 1987, just over a year later from his initial visit out to
California in the fall of 1988, the annual American land title conference
held in Toronto prompted Tom to address the issue of First American Title
becoming licensed in Canada.
“The best advice I ever received came from the example set by the current
president and chairman of the board for First American Title, Parker
Kennedy, and his father, Don, who ran the company from 1950 to 1990,”
Tom relates. “I look at the integrity these two men have and I am always
amazed at how they only move forward with decisions that feel right. I
often think about what they would do in a certain situation and knowing
that, I’m always steered in the right direction. It may cost the company
more money in the end, but doing the right thing always proves to be the
invaluable decision.”
In order for a foreign insurance company to become licensed in Canada, the
regulation for title insurance states that a fee must be paid; the sum of which
is deemed appropriate by the Minister of Finance. Expecting to be asked to
pay a fee of about two hundred thousand dollars, Tom found the sound of the
words “one million dollars” grating to his ears.
“Right away Parker said to me that if it were up to him, he’d put up the million
dollars to get a license,” Tom relays, “but it was still something he had to
discuss with his dad, the president and chairman of the board at the time.”
www.stironline.com 13
Only a couple of hours passed before a decision was reached. “Parker came
down to see me after speaking with his dad and told me they were putting up
the money for the licensing fee. The next night was the last time I walked into
the air traffic control center an employee,” Tom grins.
However, the licensing process did not prove to run as smoothly as the
decision-making process of the Kennedy’s, adding the government to the
list of groups that continued to be opposed to title insurance. “There were
three title insurance companies licensed in Canada before us that had never
done any business,” explains Tom. “The government couldn’t understand why
another failing company made business sense.”
Even after two years of fighting with regulators to get licensed, preparing
policies, pleading their case, and then paying an enormous amount of money
to boot, Tom still looks back at that part of the experience as the “easy part.”
“The hard part came when we had to convince people to buy what we were
selling,” Tom shares. “It was difficult to get a meeting with a law firm, because
they really didn’t want to hear about it. Admittedly, title insurance can be a
very dry subject.”
As the saying goes, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ That’s
exactly what Tom and Ed did. They started by thinking of ways to make their
title insurance presentation as dynamic as possible. It was time to rely on
visual effects.
“We concocted six different scenarios in which title insurance would have
saved the day.” Since there weren’t any visuals that existed from previous
cases, it was time for the two to get busy. One residential deal involved a
homeowner with a swimming pool on property with an easement running
underneath it, a potentially huge problem that could be resolved with the
purchase of a title insurance policy.
While Ed spent his time rooting through prior residential deals that involved a
pool in its survey, which they wanted to include in the presentation, Tom did
the dirty work of inconspicuously snapping shots of other pools around the
neighbourhood while the owners were out and virtually any other material
that would be helpful to their cause.
The visuals may have been partly responsible for the closing of First Canadian
Title’s first deal, but there’s also something to be said for pizza and beer.
“Probably the only reason we got in to see a law firm at all, was because I knew a
real estate lawyer from Burlington from my golf club,” admits Tom. “Although
he didn’t sound too enthusiastic about wanting to learn about title insurance,
I’m sure he knew as well as I did that it would be quite uncomfortable to run
into me at the club if he didn’t at least give me a chance.”
“Here’s Ed from a prestigious downtown law firm, and I’m giving him the
choice to either pick up pizza or beer after work, so that we can get through
the door into the law firm’s partners bi-monthly general meeting. I’m sure
he questioned himself many times as to what exactly he had gotten himself
into!” adds Tom.
The taste of humble pie paid off when, in the presentation, the slide changed
to a visual of residential property that Tom explained could be insured without
an existing survey plan and protected against any defects that could be shown.
“One of the partners piped up at that point and asked about a client he was
dealing with, who was in the process of purchasing a 38-year old home in
Dundas, Ontario. Since the house was being purchased from its original
owner, it would follow that the survey would also be 38 years old and in no
shape to be accepted by The Royal Bank. ‘Are you telling me you guys could
title insure that?’ he asks. The next day the sale went through and Canadian
title insurance history was made.”
However, only after contacting The Royal Bank did Tom and Ed see what
they’d be up against, even after they had sold title insurance to a customer.
14 Stir Media Magazine
“When I called The Royal Bank to communicate that we wanted to provide
them with title insurance,” begins Tom, “the person at the other end had no
idea what I was talking about. I could hear her unsuccessfully flipping through
the manual under insurance. I was asked to call back later and speak with the
branch manager. The branch manager then proceeded to pass me on to the
regional manager, only to continue my quest with the district manager.” Once
the deal was finally closed, there proved to be little time to bask in the glory.
“After we closed the deal, I wanted to solidify our relationship with The Royal
Bank by making another appointment to bring down the visual presentation
and make the concept clear to everyone,” explains Tom. “It didn’t take long
before it became evident that I hadn’t sparked any interest in title insurance
after all. I was told that the bank would have waived the requirement for a
survey altogether, since the purchaser was only borrowing 50% of the value of
the house anyway. If it wasn’t for the purchaser’s intent to ‘take the insurance
anyway,’ there wouldn’t have been a deal at all. So it turns out,” continues
Tom, “after all that, the first title insurance deal ever made in Canada was one
they didn’t really want anyway!”
Two weeks later, however, another lawyer from the initial deal-making firm
needed to tend to a deal that required another survey of the property. The
tide slowly began to turn, and the two Canadian title insurance pioneers found
themselves in the position of communicating with more and more banks.
The first year saw the company make $18,000.00 in premiums, $13,500.00
of which came from insuring a picture frame manufacturer in Mississauga.
The purchaser, an American, understood the concept of title insurance, giving
the company quite a lucky break.
By the second year, as a result of more survey deals, the company’s earnings
rose to $38,000.00. Banks had changed their instructions to lawyers, asking
them to provide an up-to-date survey of the property or a policy of title
insurance from First American Title.
“Essentially it was just cheaper for the purchaser to buy a title insurance policy
if he couldn’t submit a survey,” explains Tom. “Nobody cared about the added
protection that title insurance offered. It was seen as a way to save the client
some money. Once we clued into that, we found the big key to our success.”
In the fourth year of operation, sales jumped from $140,000.00 to $2.2
million. Tom attributes that jump to bringing the cost-effective nature of title
insurance to Canada Trust’s attention.
Seeing a window of opportunity if he perhaps brought up the idea of meeting
over a game of golf, Tom was determined to have Bob Overholt, former Vice
President of Canada Trust in charge of Canada-wide residential mortgages,
hear him out. It was a good plan, and on the greens, Tom and Bob had a great
discussion that eventually ensured the future of title insurance’s success in the
Canadian market.
Tom spent time outlining the merits of title insurance. Streamlining the
process the banks make the lawyers fulfill by replacing much of that work with
a title insurance policy, guaranteeing the bank security, cutting the three-week
process down to three days, and bringing down the price of the transaction
quite considerably for the client made a lot of sense to Bob. Agreeing to
start a pilot project for Canada Trust in the Western Lake Ontario Region
headquartered in Hamilton, (because Bob felt it was the tightest region
administratively,) Mr. Overholt left Tom with these words: “If there are any
flaws in the program, this regional office will discover them, and we’ll have
to kill the project. However, if it works there, it will work everywhere. If I
were you, I’d get the best lawyer you have on your panel in Hamilton to do
all of your deals.”
Without wasting any time, Tom proceeded to consult his top list, sadly
consisting of only one lawyer – the only one who had ever shown any interest
in title insurance at all. “At the time of his call,” laughs Tom, “the man actually
had to convince me that he really was a lawyer!”
www.stironline.com
In touch with his buddies at air traffic control, Tom had just recently told
everyone how difficult the title insurance sell was and how lawyers didn’t
want to hear about it. “I honestly thought one of my friends was pulling a gag
on me!”
Indeed not a joke, both lawyers, Patrick J. Chetcuti and Ben De Rubeis, from
the small Hamilton, Ontario firm had experienced a situation similar to the
experience of many snowbirds from Ontario in their first introduction to the
need for title insurance. In their efforts to find a lawyer to act for them on
the purchase of the condo they were interested in acquiring in Florida, they
were informed that lawyers didn’t deal with real estate in Florida. They were
surprised to discover that it was necessary to contact a title company in this
case.
After this experience, the two lawyers knew that it was only a matter of time
before title insurance would make its way into Canada, and subsequently, Pat
and Ben stood on alert. When the first instructions to acquire an up-to-date
survey or a policy of title insurance came across their desk on a deal they were
working on for a client in Ontario, the first call they made was the famous one
that caught Tom off-guard.
“They knew they had to be involved,” Tom emphasizes. That finger-on-the-
pulse attitude brought them into the pilot project deal made with Canada
Trust, and since that day turned the small firm of eight people, two of whom
were lawyers, into a 150-people strong title agent company in charge of over
200,000 transactions a year. Pat’s skill and expertise has also since made him
the President and Chief Operating Officer of First Canadian Title.
Once the company joined forces with Canada Trust in May of 1994, First
Canadian Title began to experience their highest number of deals in a month,
quickly surpassing their original record number of 32 in one month with a
surprising 140.
Stir Media Magazine
By the summer, only two short months later, business had expanded all across
Metro Toronto. By the fall, title insurance became known all across Ontario,
and by January of 1995, it had filtered into British Columbia. In that fourth
year of operation, the 2.2 million dollars in revenue quickly jumped to 6.8
million, then 13.5 million, and finally to a record of 22 million dollars!
“Because our services proved to be so customer- friendly with Canada Trust,
other banks had to follow suit just to keep up,” reasons Tom. “All of a sudden,
there was an urgency for everyone to see us!”
Tom also regards the law society as being largely responsible for the acceptance
of title insurance in Canada. “In the mid-nineties, we were painted as putting
real estate lawyers out of work,” continues Tom. “In 1995, a surcharge was
imposed on lawyers to help combat a deficit created through errors and
omissions liability, making our product really difficult to sell and deal with.”
Fortunately, the rules were eventually changed by the law society, allowing
lawyers to issue title insurance policies instead of paying a surcharge, and
that really helped. By 1996, the law society had even started their own title
insurance products, ultimately making title insurance more acceptable and
even easier for lawyers to issue.
Title insurance has also progressed from being recognized primarily as a
process that has become better, faster and cheaper, to also offering really
substantial protection. Today, less than half of all real estate deals are made
without purchasing title insurance. “Banks are seeing the value when our
company shows up with a cheque for $400-$500 thousand dollars after a
mortgage fraud has been committed. When we don’t show up with a cheque
in a case where title insurance hasn’t been secured, they’re probably realizing
the value of encouraging their clients to take title insurance.”
Over the last century, a system has been in place in Canada that has required
a lawyer to ensure that the title to a property has been registered, to legalize
ownership, and to confirm that a mortgage has been registered on the title.
©Photo credit: Cris Ponce / envisiondigitalphoto.com
www.stironline.com 15
In the event that the lawyer overlooked any important aspects, the customer
would have to seek recourse and damages from the lawyer, thereby incurring
additional fees and court costs.
Title insurance covers the client so that he is protected from ever being put
in the position of having to sue a lawyer. In addition, it protects parties from
a whole host of unexpected things that could go wrong, for which even the
lawyer would not be liable. Fraud is a prime example. Because anyone could
walk into a lawyer’s office and show fake identification, the person to whom
the ID actually belongs, could all of a sudden be at risk for a whole host of
unexpected responsibilities. Title insurance erases all of those worries for
investors.
This attitude is reflected in the building as soon as you walk through its doors.
The first thing you see is that it was built to last. The environment is unique.
There are no enclosed offices, and the parking lot doesn’t have any specially
marked spots. “If I’m the last one in, I park at the back of the lot,” says Tom.
“That’s the way it should be.”
If you can’t remember the last time your boss told you to make balance in your
life a priority, then your boss obviously isn’t Tom Grifferty. “We have some
people here who spend all of their time here – whether it’s late on Friday
night, or one Saturday after another. It’s company policy to get out of here
and go home! Nobody’s going to be any good to us, if they are pulling off
unreasonable hours.”

Now that Tom and his colleagues have seen the company through to its success,
he has by no means switched to cruise control. In addition to his CEO duties
at the company, Tom oversees the international operations of First American
Title. Offices in London, Australia, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, and Mexico
City all benefit from his tutelage. Although Tom finds it incredibly rewarding
to watch the company’s growth in other countries, he’s glad that he’s not the
one who actually has to do all the work again from scratch. “I have to say, it
was really hard work, and it required a lot of energy. But now I just want to
spend time enjoying the moment!”
“When I started out, I thought the company could be successful,” Tom adds.
“I dreamed a lot, and in my mind’s eye, I pictured what it might be like if I
made it, but the reality is, I never pictured this. I never expected to be in a
building this beautiful owned by the company. I didn’t anticipate being part
of a company with the team reputation First Canadian Title enjoys, and I
certainly never thought I’d ever have the opportunity to work with the gifted
people I’m blessed to be able to work with every day. I don’t even feel like I
have a job. I just feel lucky enough to come in here every day and get paid to
do it. These are things that I have to step back from and say, ‘Wow. I’m really,
really lucky!”
Evidently the staff at First Canadian Title feels the same way.
“The unseen qualities our parents teach us (integrity,
commitment, to exceed expectations, creativity, responsibility,
passion, and caring) are the backbone of this world-class
organization. I have never met so many people who have a
sparkle in their eye. Our team is special! They enjoy what
they come to work to do. They are passionate about their
roles and feel respected by others in the company.”
- Connie Bird, Account Manager,Toronto & East
A magnolia tree planted on the grounds in memory of much-loved employee,
Andrea Boyd, serves as a constant reminder to Tom and First Canadian Title’s
employees that life is short and can disappear in a second. Also having lost his
12-year old brother, David, to an airplane crash, inspires him to live life to the
fullest every day.
With a steadfast commitment to provide its customers with the most
innovative value-added title insurance products, the most efficient processes
and the best possible service experience, First Canadian Title and Tom
Grifferty have skyrocketed to success.
The year 2003 witnessed the introduction of new products such as vehicle
title insurance and personal property security insurance, thereby extending
the capacity of title insurance beyond real estate. With a continued committed
investment in high tech bringing higher levels of security and accuracy to its
customers, First Canadian Title has made its mark on the Canadian landscape,
and by all accounts, should continue to do so.
Just recently, Tom revisited the idea of flying again. Initially acquiring his
pilot’s license at the age of 17, he is happy to have rediscovered an old passion.
From his viewpoint firmly rooted to the ground, and from his sky-high
perspective of how a pilot project can change your life for the better, Tom
Grifferty knows that the best is yet to come!
First Canadian Title is located at
2235 Sheridan Garden Drive in Oakville, Ontario.
t: 905.287.1000 or 1.800.307.0370 w: www.firstcanadiantitle.com

The staff members feel strongly about their jobs because they really did help
build the company.

“During the construction process here in Oakville, a staff member drove

her daughter here to show her the building,” Tom shares. “The first day we
opened, everyone was very emotional. With no staff trained in title insurance
to choose from, this company forged its own way.” ©Photo credit: Cris Ponce / envisiondigitalphoto.com

“An air traffic controller, a lawyer who was initially more interested in why
what we do wouldn’t work, and a partner in a 2-man strong law firm in the
suburbs grew this to what it is today,” Tom proudly says. “None of us have had
any real business training. We built First Canadian Title on common sense. We
looked for bright, personable young people we could train to get us where
we wanted to go, and the main requirement we went by was: if you wouldn’t
bring this person you’re interviewing home for dinner with you to meet your
family, don’t hire them, and we stuck with that.”

“We’ve created an atmosphere where our people are encouraged to make

decisions and do their own thing. If they make a mistake, that’s okay. It will
get fixed. By its revolutionary nature, this company is constantly pushing the
envelope. We all feel we’re building this together.”

16 Stir Media Magazine www.stironline.com