Storm losses hit $8.6 billion in 2024 as home insurance premiums surge 45% in six years
Canada's home insurance market is confronting a structural shift. A Statistics Canada report released June 16 shows catastrophic weather-related claims hit a record $8.6 billion in 2024, while home and mortgage insurance premiums climbed 45% between December 2019 and December 2025. That's more than double the 21% rise in the all-items Consumer Price Index over the same period.
The study, "Extreme weather impacts on consumers and insurers in Canada, December 2019 to December 2025," confirms natural catastrophes are no longer rare events.
Since 2009, Canadian insurers have paid nearly $2 billion per year on average in catastrophic weather-related claims, up from approximately $400 million annually between 1983 and 2008.
Each year from 2020 to 2025 ranked among the top 10 costliest years on record for extreme weather claims since data tracking began in 1983.
The third quarter of 2024 concentrated the damage acutely. Four major events struck within a 30-day window: the Calgary hailstorm ($3 billion in insured losses), Quebec flooding ($2.7 billion), the Jasper wildfire ($1.1 billion) and Ontario flooding ($990 million), according to Statistics Canada, driving the year's record total.
"Natural disasters are reshaping the home insurance landscape for Canadians from coast-to-coast," said Liam McGuinty, vice-president of Federal Affairs at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
"The increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events are driving up claims costs and putting pressure on home insurance premiums across the country."
A regional divide taking shape
The financial burden has not landed equally. Alberta recorded the steepest cumulative rise in homeowners' insurance premiums of any province, 391.6% over the 20-year period ending December 2025.
In the most recent five-year window, Alberta (+55.8%), Manitoba (+46.7%), Nova Scotia (+43.1%) and Saskatchewan (+40.9%) all exceeded the national rate of 38.6%, according to Statistics Canada.
Economist Marisa McGillivray of Statistics Canada linked Alberta's disproportionate exposure to its elevated risk of hailstorms, wildfires and convective storms, particularly in and around the Calgary region.
"There's just been an overall uptick in the frequency, as well as the severity, of extreme weather," she said.
What this means for mortgage professionals
Flood risk threatening housing affordability across Canada is already shaping qualification and renewal conversations nationwide.
Aren Mirzaian, CEO of digital broker MyChoice, previously told Canadian Mortgage Professional: "Affordability isn't just about what you pay for a home anymore, it's increasingly about what it costs to protect it."
New national research from Desjardins Insurance found fewer than one-third have taken protective steps despite widespread concern, with 82% saying financial incentives would influence their decisions.
From 2016 to 2025, annual insured losses due to catastrophic weather events and wildfires totalled $37 billion, nearly tripling the previous decade.
The IBC is urging governments at all levels to respond through stronger land-use planning, resilient infrastructure investment, tighter building codes and homeowner retrofit incentives.
"Reducing cost pressures in the home insurance market means confronting the root cause: rising risk," McGuinty said in a statement.
"That requires a decisive shift to adaptation — investing in resilience, building in safer ways and locations, and taking action now to curb the growing damage from extreme weather."
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