Canada’s Record C$8.5 B in Weather-Related Losses: What It Means for Home Energy Resilience
Canada’s severe weather is intensifying, and the financial impact is rising just as quickly. In 2024, insured losses reached unprecedented levels as wildfires, floods, and violent storms hit communities across the country. These events are creating new risks for homeowners, including higher insurance premiums and more frequent, longer-lasting outages. As extreme weather accelerates, understanding the scale of these losses and what they mean for home resilience is becoming increasingly important.
Canada’s Costliest Disaster Year On Record
Canada is no stranger to severe weather, and these events are becoming increasingly common every year. As a result, insured losses from these weather-related events have also been rising.
In 2024, Canada recorded its costliest year yet for insured weather-related losses. With four catastrophic events that totalled more than C$7.5 billion in insured losses, the annual total reached a record-breaking C$8.5 billion.
This is making it more important than ever for homeowners to prepare for severe weather and the outages it causes. Having whole-home backup power is one way Canadians can keep their homes and families safe.
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What Made 2024 So Destructive?
Why was 2024 so costly? Other years, like 2023, saw 24 catastrophic events, including the record-setting wildfire season that burned 15 million hectares across Canada. That fire cost Canadians a total of $10 billion in economic losses, but just under $1 billion in insurance claims.
The reason 2024 was such a bad year for insurance was the location of the severe weather. The 2024 wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, resulted in C$1.1 billion in insured losses. Jasper is considered one of the most expensive places to live in Alberta. Then, just days later, severe thunderstorms over southern Alberta brought hail, strong winds, heavy rain, and flooding to the city of Calgary, making it the second costliest event in Canadian history, with C$3 billion in insured losses in just over an hour.
The other two major events that year were flooding in the Greater Toronto Area, which cost approximately C$990 million, and the Quebec floods resulting from Hurricane Debby, which cost roughly C$2.7 billion.
The Rise of Billion-Dollar Disasters
The devastation of 2024 resulted in record losses of C$8.5 billion, surpassing the previous record of C$6 billion set by the Fort McMurray wildfires. This is nearly triple the insured losses of 2023 and 12 times the annual average.
Three of those catastrophic events in 2024 cost C$1 billion or more, and billion-dollar disasters are becoming increasingly common.
In Canada, insured losses were over C$1 billion in 2019 and 2020, over C$2 billion in 2021, over C$3 billion in 2022 and 2023, and C$8.5 billion in 2024. Insurance companies blamed higher wildfire, flood, and severe storm frequencies and severities.
South of the border, insured losses from the 2025 LA wildfires are still being tallied but are estimated at between US$25 billion and US$45 billion. In the past five years (2020-2024), the US has experienced 115 weather and climate-related disasters with losses exceeding US$1 billion each, totalling nearly US$750 billion in damages, more than double the average for 1980-2024.
Homeowners can do their part by using products like the EcoFlow 400W Portable Solar Panel. It’s easy to set up and use at home, but it's also portable for use anywhere. It can also be used to charge home batteries, ensuring households have power during outages while helping mitigate the climate change causing those outages.
DELTA 3 Classic Portable Power Station
Weather-Driven Insurance Costs
As a result of rising insurance claims from severe weather, insurance premiums and deductibles have been increasing across Canada. In some high-risk areas, insurers have pulled out altogether, leaving homeowners scrambling for alternatives or without insurance, creating “insurance deserts.”
Building Household Resilience
There are several steps homeowners can take to make their homes more resilient. To help protect against fires, use fireproof siding, gates, and roofing materials, and maintain a zone of noncombustible materials around your home.
To protect against flooding, install flood alarms and sump pumps, and extend your downspouts. To protect against wind, install hurricane-resistant shutters and resecure your roofing and siding.
Finally, all homes should have a household power storage system so they can stay powered and connected during blackouts caused by extreme weather. The EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra X delivers 12kW of output, enough to run any appliance and even power entire small to medium homes. It’s also expandable with extra batteries up to 36kW, which should power any large home.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Rising Weather Losses Affect Insurance Costs?
More frequent severe weather events are causing higher insurance payouts for property damage. This, in turn, causes insurers to raise premiums, increase deductibles, and restrict coverage. In high-risk areas, they may even drop coverage entirely, creating “insurance deserts.”
Which Parts Of Canada Face The Highest Weather Risks?
Eastern and Atlantic Canada experience the highest weather risks from hurricanes, nor’easters, and flooding. Additionally, southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and the prairie provinces are heavily prone to thunderstorms and hail.
Best Affordable Ways To Boost Home Energy Resilience?
Some affordable ways to boost home energy resilience include LED lighting, sealing air leaks, lowering the temperature on your water heater, unplugging unused electronics, and using passive heating and cooling. If your budget allows, investing in solar power, battery storage, and Energy Star appliances offers additional resilience.
How Solar Power Works With Backup Systems?
When the sun shines, the solar panels recharge the batteries in the backup system. Then, you can use the batteries at night, during power outages, or when electricity tariffs are the highest. The batteries will recharge the following day when the sun comes out.
Extreme Weather Increases Costs, Demands Resilience, and Redefines Preparedness
Canada’s record-setting C$8.5 billion in weather-related losses highlights a clear trend: extreme events are becoming more frequent, more costly, and more disruptive for homeowners. Improving household resilience, including reliable backup power, can help reduce risks and keep families connected during outages. The EcoFlow DELTA Pro ULTRA X offers a robust, scalable backup solution built tough to handle Canada’s most challenging conditions.