Apr 10, 2026
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Your home insurance cost isn't going up because your home changed; it's going up because Canada's weather changed.
In 2024, insured losses from severe weather reached $8.5 billion — the highest ever recorded in Canadian history, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) (1). That single-year total is 12 times the annual average of $701 million recorded in the decade between 2001 and 2010.
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The result is a home insurance market where insurers lost money two years in a row, and now have to rebuild their pool of funds — through your premium.
Why 2024 broke every record for insurance claims in Canada
The summer of 2024 was the most destructive on record. Four catastrophic weather events in July and August alone generated more than $7 billion in insured losses and triggered more than 250,000 insurance claims — 50% more than Canadian insurers typically handle in an entire year (2).
The worst single event was a Calgary hailstorm in August that caused $3 billion in insured losses in just over an hour. The Jasper wildfire added another $1.1 billion. Then there were claims due to flooding that hit the Greater Toronto Area and Quebec repeatedly throughout the season.
These weren't random bad-luck events. These weather events reflect a long-term shift: The average number of catastrophic weather events in Canada has risen from roughly two per year in the 1980s to 15 per year by 2025.
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The provinces hit hardest by catastrophic events
Alberta has become the country's largest loss centre. In 2024, provincial weather damage reached $4.1 billion — the highest of any province (3). Industry operating costs in Alberta exceeded premium revenues by nearly 20% that year, according to TD Economics (4).
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have also been significantly affected. More than 60% of total insured losses between 2008 and 2024 came from damage to personal property.
What insurers are doing in response
Canada's property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry posted underwriting losses in both 2023 and 2024 — meaning claims and operating expenses exceeded premium revenues. This is a big problem, particularly for shareholders and regulators.
As a result, the industry has responded in three ways: higher premiums, bigger deductibles and narrower coverage.
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Home and mortgage insurance costs rose 31% between 2021 and 2025, according to Statistics Canada — more than double the 15% overall inflation rate over the same period (5). In provinces with heavy claims, increases have been steeper: TD Economics data shows average five-year increases of 68% in British Columbia and 58% in Alberta.
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In some hail-prone areas, deductibles for that specific peril have been raised to as much as $10,000. In the worst cases, coverage for certain risks — particularly overland flooding — is simply not available to homeowners living in high-risk flood-prone areas. At this point, IBC estimates roughly 1.5 million households, about 10% of the national total, cannot obtain flood coverage at any price, due to ongoing, persistent and expensive weather-related issues.
Even the insurers who still provide coverage to higher-risk communities are starting to pull back — quietly reducing the amount of coverage offered in catastrophe-prone zones and choosing not to write new business in these areas.
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What every homeowner should do before the next home insurance renewal
The worst move is to auto-renew. Insurers are recalibrating risk by postal code, so the policy that worked last year may have gaps this year. Here's what to do instead:
- Review your deductibles, not just your premium.
- Ask your broker whether your postal code has been flagged as higher risk for hail, flooding or wildfire. Some areas now face coverage limits that weren't in place 12 months ago.
- Consider loss-prevention upgrades. Impact-resistant roofing and backwater valves can reduce your risk profile and, with some insurers, lower your premium by 5% to 15%.
- Compare quotes from at least three insurers. The market has become less uniform — the spread between the cheapest and most expensive quotes for the same property is growing.
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The long-term fix, according to the IBC, is investment in climate resilience: Updated building codes, better flood mapping and land-use rules that stop new housing from being built in high-risk zones. Until that infrastructure catches up, the financial cost will eventually hit the bank accounts of policyholders.
"All those costs ultimately have to be borne somewhere," said Liam McGuinty, IBC's vice-president of federal affairs. "And ultimately it's policyholders, it's premium payers that bear that cost (6)."
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Insurance Bureau of Canada (1)(2); Insurance Business Canada (3); TD Economics (4); Insurance Business Canada (5); CTV News (6)
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Romana King is the Senior Editor at Money.ca. She writes for various publications, and her book -- House Poor No More: 9 Steps That Grow the Value of Your Home and Net Worth -- continues to be an Amazon bestseller. Since its publication in November 2021, this book has won five awards, including the New York CPA Society's Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Book Award in 2022.
