As the spring season brings higher flood risk to Canadians, as seen in British Columbia recently, experts say many homeowners remain without adequate insurance to cover extreme weather’s damage to their homes.
In comparison, as wildfires in Alberta have forced evacuations and filled the skies with smoke, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said standard homeowner's insurance covers fire damage as well as the costs of mass evacuations. Home and business insurance policies also don’t normally cover coastal flooding or storm surge flooding, IBC said, which means damage from rising water levels and waves caused by storms is generally not covered.
Cooperators is the only insurance company that provides storm surge coverage for all Canadians, and not just those at lower risk, she said. Meanwhile, the federal government has promised to stand up a low-lost national flood insurance program, “aimed at protecting households at high risk of flooding and without access to adequate insurance.” The latest federal budget announced $31.7 million over three years for the creation of the program, beginning in 2023-24.