2024 was the most expensive year for weather-related losses in Canadian history

2024 hit hard by natural disasters

The summer of 2024 stands out as the most destructive season in Canadian history for insured losses due to wildfires, floods and hailstorms. In just two months, July and August, four catastrophic weather events resulted in over $7 billion in insured losses and more than a quarter of a million insurance claims – 50% more than Canadian insurers typically receive in an entire year.

According to CatIQ, the single most-destructive weather event in 2024 was the August hailstorm in Calgary, Alberta, that caused $3 billion in insured losses in just over an hour, and flooding continued to cause significant damage in nearly every region across the country.

According to a release, IBC is stressing the disproportionate impact these catastrophic events are having on home insurance costs. Since 2019, Canada has experienced a 115% increase in the number of claims for personal property damage and a 485% increase in the costs for repairing and replacing personal property.

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The 10 most severe weather losses of 2024

CatIQ provided a list of the 10 most impactful weather-related losses of the year, based on their own data. They are:

• $100 million from the Western Canada deep freeze: Jan. 12 to 15
• $60 million from Manitoba hailstorms: May 16
• $135 million from Saskatchewan severe storms: June 23
• $990 million from the Toronto and GTA flash floods: July 15 to 16
• $1.1 billion from the Jasper, Alberta wildfire: July 22 to Aug. 17
• $3 billion from the Calgary hailstorm: Aug. 5
• $2.7 billion from the remnants of Hurricane Debby in Quebec: Aug. 9 to 10
• $110 million from the GTA and Southern Ontario flooding: Aug. 13 to Sept. 16
• $120 million from Southern BC storms: Oct. 18 to 20

"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," Craig Stewart, IBC’s vice-president of climate change and federal issues, said in a press release.

"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."