Canada’s 10 Worst Natural Disasters Totaled C$30 Billion in Annual Insured Losses

Insured losses have surged in the past decade as climate change in Canada sparks wildfires, intense hailstorms and thunderstorms with severe flooding in major cities.

Insured losses from natural disasters averaged C$2.2 billion ($1.63 billion) a year over the last decade, far exceeding the previous decade’s average of C$632 million ($468.3 million), according to the IBC, which expects escalating losses to continue.

The wildfire in Canadian tourist destination Jasper this year surpassed C$880 million ($652.1 million) in insured damages, according to initial estimates, IBC said last week.

Here is a list of 10 of the worst annual insured losses recorded in Canada due to weather events.

Year	Total loss	Major weather events	Impacted regions
2016	C$5.96 billion	Wildfire	Fort McMurray, Alberta
2013	$3.87 billion	Floods, ice storm	Alberta; Toronto, Ontario
2022	C$3.4 billion	Multiple events	Multiple locations
2023	C$3.13 billion	Wildfires on the west coast, floods on the east coast	Okanagan and Shuswap, B.C.; Nova Scotia
1998	C$2.83 billion	Ice storm	Quebec
2021	C$2.48 billion	Hailstorm and floods	Calgary, Alberta; British Columbia
2020	C$2.46 billion	Flood and hailstorm	Fort McMurray and Calgary, Alberta
2018	C$2.40 billion	Multiple events including rainstorms and windstorms	Ontario and Quebec
2011	C$1.97 billion	Fire and windstorm	Slave Lake, Alberta
2012	C$1.65 billion	Rainstorm	Calgary

Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada, CatIQ

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Photograph: A resident of the Timberlea neighborhood sits among the rubble in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Altaberta on Thursday, June 2, 2016. (Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP)