Claims from 4 Canadian Summer Weather Events Exceed Previous Year Total: IBC

Four natural disasters over four weeks during Canada’s summer season resulted in roughly five times the amount of claims than the 20-year average, the Insurance Bureau of Canada reported.

About 228,000 home, auto and business insurance claims were made following two flooding events, a fire and a hail storm in Canada in July and August. Last year, during the same period, insurers reported about 113,000 claims made. About 160,000 applications were submitted for all of 2023, the IBC said.

Bad weather in 2023 caused insured losses of more than C$3.1 billion (about $2.3 billion), and 2024 “is shaping up to be another costly year,” the IBC said.

The July floods in Toronto and southern Ontario caused more than $940 million in insured losses. July’s Jasper Fire resulted in insured losses estimated to exceed $880 million.

IBC said annual insured losses from weather now routinely eclipse $2 billion, although the average from 2001 to 2012 was about $700 million.

“This summer has been the most difficult on record for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians across the country who have been affected by these storms and wildfires,” said Celyests Power, president and CEO of IBC. “While insurers continue to assist their customers with financial support, the high volume of claims, along with the shortage of skilled labor and continued strains in Canada’s supply chain, means that the claims process will take time.”

Power called on the federal government to support the National Flood Insurance Program, prioritize assistance to affected communities and stop building and rebuilding in floodplains or wildfire-prone areas.

($1 = 1.3506 Canadian dollars)

Photo: Destruction from the fires in Jasper, Alberta. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Claims Canada