June storms result in more than $1.1B in damages across Canada

Canada's insurance industry is sounding the alarm after severe storms, including tornadoes and flooding, inflicted more than $1.1 billion in insured damages across the country in June. The Insurance Bureau of Canada is renewing its calls for governments to prioritize investments in flood protection infrastructure. Preliminary estimates indicate that storms on June 9 and 10 in Manitoba and Saskatchewan alone resulted in over $728 million in insured losses. Meanwhile, flooding in Montreal and surrounding areas on June 20 and 21 caused more than $409 million in damage. These figures underscore a month marked by extreme weather events, featuring tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, torrential rain, and flash flooding in affected regions. In Regina, one of the hardest-hit cities, a powerful hailstorm damaged thousands of vehicles and homes, leading to over 10,000 auto claims and 800 property claims. The Insurance Bureau of Canada emphasizes that these latest figures highlight the escalating financial and human toll of flooding nationwide. "Flood risk is no longer a future challenge… it is a current reality affecting Canadians from coast to coast," stated Liam McGuinty, the bureau's vice-president of federal affairs. The bureau advocates for stronger land-use planning, limiting development in high-risk flood plains, investing in flood-resilient infrastructure, strengthening building codes, and expanding homeowner assistance programs. Flood and water-related insured losses have surged over 300 percent in the last two decades compared to the previous twenty years, with insurers paying an average of more than $2 billion annually in catastrophic weather-related claims since 2009. McGuinty concluded, "Flooding is Canada’s costliest and most pervasive climate risk. Insurance alone cannot solve Canada’s flood problem."

“

Flood risk is no longer a future challenge… it is a current reality affecting Canadians from coast to coast.