Ahead of the storm: Developing flood-resilience guidance for Canada’s commercial real estate

This report focuses on the implications of flooding, as it has emerged as the costliest natural disaster in Canada. According to Public Safety Canada, the cost of the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program, which provides funding support to provinces and territories for major natural disasters, will approach one billion dollars annually. Approximately 75% of this cost is attributable to flood events. Flooding is also the lead driver in rising catastrophic insurable losses for the property and casualty insurance sectors in Canada, which experienced over $1.8 billion annually in insured losses from 2009 to 2018, compared to $405 million annually from 1983 to 2008 (this data reflects an adjustment for inflation and wealth accumulation).