Canada: 'It's a problem for society': Climate change is making some homes uninsurable
By Peter Armstrong
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It's an increasingly common refrain. Thousands of Canadians live in vulnerable areas that, before long, may be deemed too risky to insure.
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"Climate change is massive, because we protect Canadians from coast to coast to coast," said Charles Brindamour, CEO of Intact Insurance. He said his company protects "one in five Canadians." After seeing a "five- to six-fold increase" in natural disasters worldwide over the last three decades, Brindamour knew the industry had to adapt.
"We had to totally reshape our business model to make sure we had a sustainable business in the context of massive changes in weather patterns."
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Between 1983 and 2008, Canadian insurance companies paid out an average of $400 million in claims per year. Now, with so many climate-related disasters, the average is $1.8 billion a year. The fires around Fort McMurray in 2016 became the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history. The cost of fire prevention has soared from around $600 million in the 1990s to more than $1.4 billion in the last two years.
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The federal government is planning to release new flood maps next year, which will help. Many Canadians who live far from major rivers and lakes will wake up to a whole new understanding of risk.
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