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Our History

Petrela, Winter & Associates was founded in 1979 by Herbert Petrela, who began his career as a surety underwriter with Chubb, in New York City, and moved on to become the head of bonding of The Guarantee Company of North America, the oldest Surety in Canada, and to this day one of the largest.

Most contractors dealt with generalist insurance brokers for their bonding, usually by default, since the same broker handled the contractor’s insurances and there were precious few brokerages with any surety expertise. Mr. Petrela recognized the value in having a qualified bond broker manage a contractor’s bonding affairs, and it was on this premise that he formed Petrela Winter.

Greg Petrela, Chairman, joined the firm in 1994, and expanded Petrela Winter’s services to incorporate insurance and risk management for contractors and developers. The firm has grown steadily under Greg’s leadership, while remaining true to its founding principle – maintaining an exclusive dedication to the construction and development communities.

Roy Ferreira, President & CEO, joined Petrela Winter in 2004, marking a notable chapter in the firm’s evolution and growth.

Petrela Winter joined the Navacord Group in 2015, to form one of the largest construction practices in the Canadian brokerage industry.

In 2017, long-time employees and seasoned bond advisors, Collingwood Brown, Chris Curry and Tim Gorman, joined the ownership group as Partners.

Petrela, Winter & Associates is the leading privately owned bond and construction insurance broker in Canada, and has earned the reputation as the broker of choice amongst informed contractors and developers.