Canadian Insurers Urge Homeowners to Fortify Properties and Press Ottawa to Prioritize Climate Risk

Canada's property insurance industry is sounding the alarm on climate risk, with major carriers urging both homeowners and the federal government to take stronger action as the country faces another season of elevated wildfire and flood threat. Insurers including Intact Financial, TD Insurance, Wawanesa, and Definity Financial are actively encouraging property owners to fortify their homes against natural catastrophes, while also pressing Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to prioritize climate-related risks.

The industry's concern centres on a perceived tension in federal priorities. Insurers worry that the government's prioritization of energy development and economic growth over climate-risk mitigation could, over time, contribute to more wildfire- and flood-related damage. Canada — which contains nearly 10% of the world's forest — has experienced record wildfire and flood damage in recent years, and 2026 is expected to be among the hottest years on record, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, increasing the likelihood of severe wildfire activity. Research has consistently linked human-driven climate change to hotter and more frequent heatwaves that fuel these events.

The financial pressure on both insurers and consumers is mounting. Canadian home-insurance premiums rose about 6% last year as claims surged, driven by increasingly frequent and severe weather events. The insurers — Intact, TD Insurance, Wawanesa, and Definity — face the challenge of maintaining affordability while covering escalating catastrophe losses. At the same time, the broader Canadian property and casualty industry remains financially robust: net income rose 56.7% for the sector in 2025, according to the industry regulator, which requires insurers to hold strong capital levels.

A crucial point distinguishes Canada from some other markets. Despite record losses, calamity-prone regions in Canada remain insurable — unlike in parts of the United States and other countries where insurers have withdrawn entirely from high-risk wildfire zones, leaving homeowners unable to obtain coverage at any price. This continued availability of coverage is a significant advantage for Canadian homeowners, but the industry's messaging makes clear it should not be taken for granted: maintaining insurability over the long term depends on both individual mitigation efforts and coordinated government action on climate adaptation and resilience.

The insurers' dual appeal — to homeowners to fortify their properties and to government to prioritize climate risk — reflects a growing recognition across the global insurance industry that the affordability and availability of property insurance in a warming world cannot be sustained through pricing alone, but requires reducing the underlying physical risk through mitigation, resilient construction, and adaptation investment.