Insurance losses hit record high in 2024

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is officially marking 2024 as the most expensive year of severe weather-related losses in Canadian history.

The record stood for a number of years, 2016 was the second most costly year at $6.2 billion in total loss. This over $6 billion in losses happened following the Fort McMurray wildfires.

In 2024, there were $8.5 billion in losses according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ).

“Sadly, beyond the staggering financial losses are hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose lives and livelihoods have been upended,” said Celyeste Power, president and CEO of IBC. “Canada’s property and casualty insurers have been there every step of the way, and continue to be on the ground, helping their customers rebuild and recover. The industry is doing its part, but it’s time for governments to take decisive action to protect Canadians from these escalating and dangerous events.”

The summer of 2024 is the most destructive season in Canadian history resulting in over $7 billion in insured losses. 

The single most destructive weather event in the year was the August hailstorm in Calgary causing $3 billion in insured losses in just over an hour, flooding continued to cause significant damage in nearly every region across the country.

Other notable weather events saw Quebec getting hit by the remnants of Hurricane Debby causing $2.7 billion in insured losses. The Jasper wildfire caused just over $1 billion in insured losses while flooding, storms, ice and hail wreaked havoc on the rest of the country causing significant damage. 

“Canada is clearly becoming a riskier place to live, work and insure. As insurers price for risk, this increased risk is now impacting insurance affordability and availability,” said Craig Stewart, vice-president, of climate change and federal issues, IBC.

Stewart is calling on the government to be more proactive in managing risk.

“Canadian governments must be more proactive to properly manage and mitigate risk. Governments need to invest in infrastructure that defends against floods, adopt land-use planning rules that ensure homes are not built on flood plains, facilitate FireSmart in communities in high-risk wildfire zones and implement long-delayed building codes that better protect homes and livelihoods,” he said. 

Read more: Lakeland learns from Jasper wildfire

author avatar
Christian Apostolovski
Add a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *