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The chairman of Lloyd's of London, one of the world's oldest insurance firms, told a Toronto business audience on Wednesday that Canada is becoming a credible target for terrorism, as he drums up awareness of the company's insurance products.

“Canada's risk profile has changed in recent years and while no stranger to terrorism, intelligence suggests that its role is shifting from a hub for fundraising and planning attacks outside the nation – for example in the U.S. – to a credible target in its own right,” said Lord Peter Levene.

“We are told that, by this year, there were thought to be some 60 groups operating within Canada's borders that support an extremist jihadi ideology,” he added.

Lloyd's is the seventh largest insurer in Canada, Mr. Levene noted, and a “very significant provider of insurance for terrorism risks in Canada, and we are also at the forefront in providing terrorism coverage for Canadian interests abroad.

“The real estate, hotel and transportation sectors are amongst those we cover, and the 2010 Winter Olympics is already buying terrorism coverage from Lloyd's.”

Mr. Levene believes that instability is an issue of rising importance for 21st Century business leaders, and said that about 20 per cent of international terrorist attacks are directed against business, meaning between 150 and 200 attacks per year.

“By all accounts, Canada's domestic security services have done a first-class job. But that should not lead to complacency,” he said.