2023 wildfires were B.C.’s costliest insured event ever at $720M in losses, report says

Bethany Lindsay · CBC News

· Posted: Jan 08, 2024 9:39 PM EST | Last Updated: January 9

Two wildfires in B.C.’s southern interior caused more than $720 million in insured losses last year, making them the most costly insured extreme weather event the province has ever seen, according to a new report.

Taken together, the McDougall Creek wildfire in the Okanagan and the Bush Creek East fire in the Shuswap region are now the 10th worst natural disaster for insurance payouts on record in Canada, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) annual report for 2023.

“This year’s wildfire season has broken all records in terms of the amount of land burned and damage caused to homes and businesses in B.C.,” Aaron Sutherland, IBC vice-president for the Pacific and western regions, said in a press release.

“The wildfires’ impact is another tragic reminder of the risk B.C. residents face due to climate change and the increasing frequency of natural catastrophes.”

Across Canada, the IBC report estimates that natural catastrophes caused more than $3.1 billion in insured damage, making it the fourth most expensive year on record.

“The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters should be of concern to all Canadians, even if they have yet to be directly affected,” Craig Stewart, IBC’s vice-president of climate change and federal issues, said in a press release.

While the destructive wildfires that blazed through B.C. caused the most insured damage of any extreme weather event in Canada last year, the list of 2023’s costliest weather events includes everything from ice storms to flooding:

1. Okanagan and Shuswap area wildfires, Aug. 15–Sept. 25: $720 million.
2. Severe summer storms in Ontario, July 20–Aug. 25: $340 million.
3. Spring ice storm in Ontario and Quebec, April 5–6: $330 million.
4. Summer storms in the Prairies, June 18–July 26: $300 million.
5. Nova Scotia flooding, July 23: $170 million.
6. Tantallon, Nova Scotia, wildfire, May 28–June 4: $165 million.
7. Winnipeg hailstorm, Aug. 24: $140 million.
8. Atlantic Canada cold snap, Feb. 3��–5: $120 million.
9. Behchokǫ̀-Yellowknife and Hay River, NWT, wildfires, Aug. 13–Sept. 16: $60 million.

WATCH | The National reports on the high cost of severe weather events:

Climate change has made extreme weather more common in Canada. And the accompanying disasters such as floods and fires have made home insurance more expensive — if you can get it all.

Report calls for national flood insurance program

The report notes that while wildfires were particularly destructive this year, the escalating losses caused by flooding mean Canada is now viewed as a riskier place to insure. According to IBC, that means more than 1.5 million high-risk households cannot access affordable flood insurance.

“The federal government committed to a national flood insurance program in last year’s federal budget. However, progress has stalled, leaving too many Canadians vulnerable to the effects of our changing climate,” Stewart said.

In response to the report, researchers at the Canadian Climate Institute pointed out that the high cost of extreme weather and climate change goes well beyond insured losses.

“Homeowners, businesses, and governments bear many additional costs for damages that are uninsurable,” the institute’s adaptation research director Ryan Ness said in a written statement.

“The parliamentary budget officer has estimated that total losses for climate-related damage are about three times greater than insured losses alone.”

The Canadian Climate Institute has estimated the health costs of a single week of wildfire smoke in Ontario last spring at nearly $1.3 billion, and points out that extreme weather events can also lead to higher costs for Canadians through supply chain problems, rising home insurance premiums and tax hikes to cover recovery efforts.