Last year was among the costliest for commercial insurance losses

The costliest events of 2024

The costliest weather event in 2024 for commercial insurance was the wildfires in Jasper, Alta., standing at $650 million. The municipality was hit the hardest and accounted for nearly 40% of extreme weather losses to commercial property in 2024.

Next was the remnants of Hurricane Debby across Eastern Canada at $360 million, the Calgary hail storm at $280 million and the Ontario and Greater Toronto Area flash floods at $190 million.

Since 2010, over 132,000 businesses in Canada have suffered damage and filed insurance claims due to extreme weather events, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification.

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History of commercial insurance losses in Canada

Last year, 2024, is only behind 2016 as the costliest year for commercial insurance, thanks to the Fort McMurray wildfires in Alberta which totalled $1,918,420 in losses. 2013 is third, with $1,720,028 in losses primarily thanks to the Southern Alberta floods and GTA floods.

Rounding out the top five is 2022, with $945,632 in damages attributed to Hurricane Fiona and the derecho in Ontario and Quebec; and 2020, in which Prairie hail storms caused $782,183 in commercial losses.

"Canadian governments must move swiftly to make targeted investments in infrastructure that defends against floods, improve land-use planning rules that ensure homes and businesses are not built on flood plains and that FireSmart best practices are followed in communities in high-risk wildfire zones,” said McGuinty.

“These actions would not only protect the physical assets of the businesses that are at highest risk, but would also safeguard the broader community, contributing to a competitive, responsive and resilient commercial insurance market that provides solutions for businesses.”