(Ottawa) Bad weather and natural disasters caused more than $3 billion in insured damages for the second consecutive year in 2023 in Canada.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) annual report is dominated by wildfires in the Okanagan and Shuswap regions of British Columbia, which caused $720 million in insured losses.
Other notable events included severe summer storms in Ontario, worth $340 million, and the spring ice storm in Ontario and Quebec in April, which caused power outages and left two people dead — and caused 330 million insured damages.
Summer hailstorms in Winnipeg and Calgary together caused more than $250 million in damages.
On the East Coast, a wildfire that ravaged a Halifax suburb in May and June ($165 million) and flooding in late July ($170 million) were both on the IBC list.
This results places 2023 fourth on the IBC’s list of costliest weather years — with 2016 still at the top of the list, with the devastating Fort McMurray, Alberta wildfire.
“This grim statistic highlights the financial costs of climate change for insurers, governments and taxpayers,” the BAC said in a statement.
“The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters should be of concern to all Canadians, even if they have not yet been directly affected,” said Craig Stewart, Vice-President, Climate Change and Federal Issues, at IBC.