In an article published by Insurance Business Canada, CNA’s David Price outlines the impacts caused by the changes in flood risk in Canada as a result of climate change.

In April 2020, an ice jam roughly 25-kilometres long on the Athabasca River in northern Alberta triggered a once-in-a-century flood, forcing nearly 13,000 residents of Fort McMurray from their homes and causing around $522 million in insured damage, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. A few months later, residents of southern Manitoba faced a once-in-1,000-year event, when the rivers dam spilled over following a few days of torrential rain in July. Add to that multiple micro-floods in Toronto, a series of water-triggered mudslides in British Columbia, storm surge and coastal flooding in the Atlantic provinces, and the ever growing problem of catastrophic hail in Alberta, and it’s fair to say that 2020 is shaping up to be a very active catastrophe season from a water standpoint.

In Canada, emergency management – including flood risk mitigation and response - is the shared responsibility of provincial, territorial and municipal governments. As highlighted in the August 2020 Intact Centre on Climate Adaption report, entitled: ‘Climate Change and the Preparedness of Canadian Provinces and Territories to Limit Flood Risk,’ some provinces have made greater strides in their flood resilience than others. For example, the provinces of Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Yukon have all declared they’ve incorporated the impacts of climate change into their floodplain mapping initiatives. They are one step ahead of British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, who are only in the collaboration stage with local governments and agencies regarding the incorporation of climate change into floodplain maps.

For more information and personal insights, read the full feature: ‘Insurers Must Consider Climate Change When Tackling Flood Risk’, published in Insurance Business Canada.

Published article, HERE.