Insured losses have surged in the past decade as climate change in Canada sparks wildfires, intense hailstorms and thunderstorms with severe flooding in major cities.
Insured losses from natural disasters averaged C$2.2 billion ($1.63 billion) a year over the last decade, far exceeding the previous decade’s average of C$632 million ($468.3 million), according to the IBC, which expects escalating losses to continue.
The wildfire in Canadian tourist destination Jasper this year surpassed C$880 million ($652.1 million) in insured damages, according to initial estimates, IBC said last week.
Related: Canada’s Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½Ó³» Sector Faces Deluge of Climate-Related Catastrophe Claims
Here is a list of 10 of the worst annual insured losses recorded in Canada due to weather events.
Year | Total loss | Major weather events | Impacted regions |
2016 | C$5.96 billion | Wildfire | Fort McMurray, Alberta |
2013 | $3.87 billion | Floods, ice storm | Alberta; Toronto, Ontario |
2022 | C$3.4 billion | Multiple events | Multiple locations |
2023 | C$3.13 billion | Wildfires on the west coast, floods on the east coast | Okanagan and Shuswap, B.C.; Nova Scotia |
1998 | C$2.83 billion | Ice storm | Quebec |
2021 | C$2.48 billion | Hailstorm and floods | Calgary, Alberta; British Columbia |
2020 | C$2.46 billion | Flood and hailstorm | Fort McMurray and Calgary, Alberta |
2018 | C$2.40 billion | Multiple events including rainstorms and windstorms | Ontario and Quebec |
2011 | C$1.97 billion | Fire and windstorm | Slave Lake, Alberta |
2012 | C$1.65 billion | Rainstorm | Calgary |
Source: Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½Ó³» Bureau of Canada, CatIQ
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Photograph: A resident of the Timberlea neighborhood sits among the rubble in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Altaberta on Thursday, June 2, 2016. (Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP)
Topics Natural Disasters Profit Loss Canada
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