Insured damage from severe weather exceeded $3.1B in 2023: insurance bureau

OTTAWA — Severe weather and natural disasters caused more than $3 billion in insured damages for the second year in a row in 2023. 

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s annual tally is topped by wildfires in the Okanagan and Shuswap areas of B.C., which cost $720 million. 

Other notable events included severe summer storms in Ontario, at $340 million, and a spring ice storm in April that caused power outages and left two people dead in Ontario and Quebec, costing $330 million. 

Summer hailstorms in Winnipeg and Calgary combined to cause more than $250 million in damages.