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Severe Weather Centre

One reliable source for insurance information following severe weather events.

Helping you stay informed and protected

From knowing how your insurance helps you recover and rebuild to answering your frequently asked insurance questions, we have all the information you need in one place.

Latest severe weather events

Get all the information you need about the most recent severe weather events in your region and across the country.

Severe weather help

  • Customer Information Centre
  • CAMP (Community Assistance Mobile Pavilion)
  • Severe Weather Insurance FAQs
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Customer Information Centre

Our expert staff are ready to answer your questions about insurance following severe weather events. From helping you understand how to file a claim to resolving insurance disputes, our Information Officers are here for you.

1-844-2ask-IBC (1-844-227-5422)

M-F 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST

Past severe weather events

The cost of severe weather in Canada

Noteworthy severe weather events in 2022 include Hurricane Fiona, the Ontario and Quebec derecho, the Eastern Canada late-winter storm, the Western Canada summer storms and the Eastern Canada bomb cyclone. These events cost between $60 million and $1 billion each in insured damages.

Insured Damage for Severe Weather Events in 2022

DateSevere Weather EventTotal loss ($ billion)
February 17–19Eastern Canada late-winter storm$140 million
April 22–25Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario flooding$60 million
May 21Ontario and Quebec derecho$1 billion
June 16–17Ontario and Quebec severe storms$50 million
July–AugustWestern Canada summer storms$300 million
September 23–24Hurricane Fiona$800 million
December 22–26Eastern Canada bomb cyclone$180 million
December 23–27BC winter storm and king tide$80 million

Source 1983–2007: IBC, PCS Canada, Swiss Re, Deloitte. 2008–2021: CatIQ.

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Canada's Top 10 Highest Insured Loss Years on Record (loss and adjusted expenses in 2022 dollars)

RankYearTotal loss ($ billion)Notable severe weather event
120165.96Fort McMurray, Alberta, fire
220133.87Alberta floods; Greater Toronto Area (GTA) floods, December GTA Ice Storm
320223.12Multiple events
419982.83Quebec ice storm
520212.48Calgary hailstorm; British Columbia floods
620202.46Fort McMurray, Alberta, flood; Calgary hailstorm
720182.40Multiple events: Ontario and Quebec rainstorms and windstorms
820111.97Slave Lake, Alberta, fire and windstorm
920121.65Calgary rainstorm
1020191.56Multiple events

Sources 1983--2007: IBC, PCS Canada, Swiss Re, Deloitte. 2008--2021: CatIQ.

What we’re doing about the cost of severe weather

In today's world of extreme weather events, insured catastrophic losses in Canada now routinely exceed $2 billion annually, most of it due to water-related damage. In the decade before 2008, Canadian insurers averaged only $456 million a year in severe weather-related losses.

We continue to have in-depth discussions with the federal and provincial governments on ways to improve the resilience of communities and better manage the costs of flooding for high-risk residential properties in Canada.

In August 2022, Federal, provincial, territorial and governments and Indigenous organizations collaborated with insurers to finalize the "Task Force Report on Flood Insurance and Relocation”. The federal government is now examining options to create a national residential flood insurance program that will offer affordable insurance to all residents at high risk of overland flooding, including storm surge, through a public-private partnership. Most G7 countries already have such a program in place.