Canadian Insurance Industry Having A Really Bad Year

Craig Stewart, vice-president of federal affairs at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says the industry sees severe weather as a top priority nationally. “There are clear trends towards a warming atmosphere that have resulted in more significant losses from flooding… and as we’ve seen recently, wildfire,” he said. The industry is still tallying up the cost of Alberta’s Fort McMurray wildfire, but with claims estimated at $ 3.6 billion, the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history is already hitting insurers. Joel Baker, president of MSA Research Inc., says this year will likely go down as the worst in decades for Canada’s general insurance sector, which excludes life insurance.