There are leaders we constantly read about, see online and in the paper, and then there are leaders who occupy some of the most influential positions in Canada, yet fly under the radar while brilliantly running some of the country’s largest organizations. Tina Osen is one of the latter and, as the President of HUB International Canada, is among the most influential women in Canadian finance. HUB is a leading global insurance brokerage and financial services firm with US$4.8 billion in revenue for 2024 and is the largest insurance brokerage in Canada.Tina’s role places her in the same league as CEOs of Canada’s largest corporations.
Tina’s title as President isn’t what stands out most. What truly sets her apart is her ability to build trusting relationships with her team and to make sure that same spirit extends to the firm’s clients. She has leaned into a disposition of both confidence and humility, without the bravado or ego-driven displays associated with business titans. Tina’s approach has been to lead with compassion, an open mind, and deep care and appreciation for each individual. “Empathy isn’t a soft skill,” states Tina. “It’s a competitive advantage.” She is adamant that each person on her team is someone whose trust she seeks to earn, emphasizing, “employees will not follow you, or work for you, or take risks for you if they don’t trust you.”
Like many leaders, Tina worked her way up through the organization, gaining an understanding of the business’s multiple layers, which now informs her leadership style and comprehensive knowledge of HUB’s strategy and implementation. Her father’s Vancouver brokerage joined HUBInternational in 1998 as a founding partner, and she was part of the integration. She credits her years in frontline sales for much of her learning, but stresses that her greatest learning was the importance of relationship management skills, explaining that she was not the stereotypical Type-A salesperson. “How I succeeded in sales was by creating genuine connections with people, so that they trusted me, so that they wanted to do business with me.” Her intentional approach to appreciating others continues to this day with handwritten notes to employees, phone calls and the celebration of wins together, no matter how big or small. She credits leadership development and recognition programs as being instrumental to building a culture of trust and belonging.
Tina’s path to leadership was not easy, and there were moments of second-guessing and questioning her place. While she was tapped for leadership early, stepping into the COO role in 2004, she also learned later lessons about further advancement. One of those lessons was to promote herself and raise her hand for growing responsibility. Like many women, she expected her hard work and exceptional results to be noticed and rewarded, but found she was passed over in favour of another colleague who put himself forward, boldly asking for more responsibility and a plum new leadership role. This experience taught her the importance of raising her hand and making it clear that she was interested in growth opportunities. The disappointment stung, but it also caused her to self-reflect and ultimately gave her the impetus to advocate for herself, raising her hand for advancement. Instead of making a rash
decision after the disappointment, Tina reflects that she followed her mother’s sage advice, “when something bad happens, don’t do anything immediate; give it 12 months, let yourself see how you feel about it. And then, if you’re still not happy, then maybe make a different decision.”
Today, as HUB’s President in Canada, Tina is focused on fostering a dynamic, energizing culture where employees are empowered to grow, develop, and thrive. One of her key tenets is to stay curious, ask thoughtful questions, and continue learning, while being adaptable and invested in helping employees succeed. She is proud not only of HUB Canada’s business success, but also of her role in attracting great women to the company. She reflects that fewer than 8% of the industry’s top jobs are held by women but proudly states that having women in senior leadership roles at HUB has helped attract strong female talent to the company. Her father, she states, was an early advocate for women leaders and women of colour in his brokerage, and she credits him and her mother with giving her and her sister the confidence to believe they could achieve anything.
Her outlook now is to continue mentoring and championing others, recognizing she benefited from this in her early career. Today, she focuses on scaling the business, strengthening teams, attracting clients and developing leaders.
In an industry often associated with metrics and performance, Tina’s definition of success remains strikingly human. Ultimately, she hopes her legacy will not simply be the growth of a company, but the strength of the relationships she built and the people she helped elevate throughout her career.