We are thrilled to announce that Catherine Gaulton, HIROC's CEO, has been named one of Insurance Business Canada's Elite Women 2026!
When we heard about this award, we immediately thought of Catherine because of her strength, determination, and empowerment of those around her through mentoring, guiding and championing each of HIROC's employees individually.
The article below is part of Catherine's award profile first published in Insurance Business Magazine.
Congratulations, Catherine!
At the helm of Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) since 2017, Catherine Gaulton has built a leadership model rooted in shared accountability and system-wide impact. With a background spanning nursing, corporate law, and healthcare governance, she brings depth and perspective to Canada’s healthcare insurance sector, earning her recognition as one of Insurance Business Canada’s Elite Women for 2026.
Gaulton joined HIROC as CEO and attorney-in-fact after serving as vice president of quality and system performance and chief legal officer at the Nova Scotia Health Authority. There, she led patient safety, accreditation, infection prevention and control, clinical risk, legal, privacy, strategic planning, enterprise risk, and emergency preparedness programs.
A registered nurse and practising lawyer in Ontario and Nova Scotia, with earlier legal practice in British Columbia, she carries a system-level understanding of healthcare liability, governance, and safety. She also serves on several boards, including Pallium Canada and Healthcare Collaborative Benefits, and chairs the HIROC Foundation.
Gaulton has described herself as always keen to learn, allowing curiosity to guide her decisions. Each move has been weighed against two questions: would it allow her to make a difference, and would she be learning something new?
From left: Catherine's husband David, Catherine, and HIROC's Mike Campbell and Wendy Hooper at HIROC's recent Staff Appreciation Party.
One of her most significant professional milestones was the transition from nursing into corporate and business law. Nursing had been encouraged early on as a suitable path for a caring and academically strong “girl”. She valued the experience and what it taught her about service and responsibility.
Moving into law required ambition and energy that were not always received in the same way from colleagues. Gaulton views that leap and the contribution of both careers to her progression as a major achievement. Just as important, she measures success by never leaving a role on negative terms and ensuring that each transition carries meaning and contributes more.
As CEO, her central challenge is shaping collective leadership. She asks how the shared leadership efforts at HIROC can contribute more than the sum of individual efforts, particularly when those she leads are high performers in their own right. It is, she acknowledges, a good problem to have.
“I am inspired every day by my female peers,” Gaulton says. “My optimistic and determined approach to life, truly a sense that most things are possible, along with my curiosity, interest in learning, and focus on relationships and building on the strength of what we collectively bring to an issue, may be what sets me apart.”
Working in a sector where assumptions about credibility persist, she has encountered moments when ambition and drive were not always welcomed. When faced with those assumptions, she invested in her expertise and focused on results. She also challenges the narrow image of what leadership in insurance looks like. Women balancing family and career, she argues, bring a skill set the industry would benefit from recognizing more fully.
Being named an Elite Woman carries responsibility. “Women frequently feed back to me that seeing me in leadership gives them hope that they can also do this,” she says. “With this in mind, I take my role as an example for others very seriously.”
The legacy Gaulton hopes to leave is measured in balance and contribution. She wants to be known for devotion to family and friends, commitment to colleagues and their success, and the quality of service delivered to clients.
You can see the full list of IBC's Elite Women of 2026 here.
