Canadian wildfires main component of Intact’s $421m Q2 2023 catastrophe loss estimate

Canadian property and casualty insurer, Intact Financial Corporation, has reported pre-tax catastrophe losses of an estimated CA $421 million, net of reinsurance, for the second quarter of 2023, driven by the record-setting series of wildfires in the country.

Since the beginning of March, Canada has been affected by an ongoing series of record-breaking wildfires, which have reportedly displaced at least 120,000 people.

The fires are concentrated in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the northwestern territories in western Canada, as well as in Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia in the east.

Of the CA $421 million of catastrophe losses reported by Intact for Q2 2023, CA $335 million relates to Canada, CA $62 million to the UK&I, and CA $24 million to the U.S.

In Canada, Intact states that almost 50% of the losses were attributable to wildfires, with the greatest financial impact coming from Atlantic Canada. The ice storm and flooding in Quebec in early spring also contributed to the total.

The large majority, CA $252 million of the Canada loss total were in personal lines, with CA $83 million in commercial lines.

In both the UK&I and the U.S., cat losses were weather and non-weather related for the quarter.

Charles Brindamour, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intact, commented: “Our teams are working to get customers back on track amid a very active season for catastrophes – a reminder of the growing impact of climate change on both forest fires and severe weather events.

“We will continue to leverage our expertise in building climate resilient communities. Through our collaboration with the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, there are tools available to educate Canadians on cost-effective measures to protect their homes from the growing threat of wildfires.”