2023 among worst years for insured weather damage. How much did it cost?

Last year ranks among the top five worst years on record in insured damage from extreme weather events, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) says.

In fact, 2023 was the fourth-worst year ever for insured losses from severe weather in Canada, the IBC said in a news release Monday. In total, extreme weather events resulted in more than $3.1 billion last year — the second year in a row Canada exceeded $3 billion in insured damage from severe weather.

“This grim statistic highlights the financial costs of a changing climate to insurers, governments and taxpayers,” the IBC said.

“While 2023 was a record-breaking year for wildfires, flooding also continued to cause destruction in nearly every region across Canada.”

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Noteworthy severe weather events last year include the Atlantic Canada cold snap; Ontario and Quebec spring ice storm; the Tantallon, N.S., wildfire; Nova Scotia flooding; Prairies summer storms; the Winnipeg hailstorm; Ontario severe summer storms; the Okanagan and Shuswap-area wildfires in B.C.; and the Behchokǫ̀-Yellowknife and Hay River, N.W.T, wildfires.

The record number of wildfires ranked as Environment Canada’s top weather story for 2023.

The weather event with the highest price tag was the Okanagan and Shuswap-area wildfires between August and September, coming in at $720 million, according to IBC.

With 2023 ranked fourth in the worst years for extreme weather insurance claims, here are the others than make up the top five:

• 2016: $5.96 billion in damage, mostly due to Fort McMurray wildfire, makes it worst year on record
• 2013: $3.87 billion due to multiple floods and the ice story in the Greater Toronto Area
• 2022: $3.4 billion due to multiple events
• 1998: $2.83 billion, heightened by the Quebec ice story

“With today’s extreme weather events, insured catastrophic losses in Canada now routinely exceed $2 billion annually, and most of it is due to water-related damage,” the IBC said.

“Over the last decade, there have been more than 35 catastrophic flooding events across Canada in which insured losses exceeded $30 million per flood. Total insured losses from these events have averaged close to $800 million annually over the last decade.”

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The IBC called on Ottawa to advance its national flood insurance program, promised in last year’s federal budget.

“Progress has stalled, leaving too many Canadians vulnerable to the effects of our changing climate,” said Craig Stewart, vice-president of climate change and federal issues with the IBC, in the release.

“Once launched, this program would provide Canadians living in high-risk areas with affordable financial protection and peace of mind when a flood strikes. Details of the program must be shared with our industry and the provinces this winter if it’s to be operational before the next federal election.”