Canada insured catastrophe losses hit record C$8.5bn in 2024: CatIQ
Insured catastrophe losses in Canada reached CAN $8.5 billion for full-year 2024, making it the largest loss year for the country on record, exceeding the previous record of CAN $6.2 billion recorded in 2016, according to CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure indices provider.
This insured loss figure also significantly surpasses last year, where insured cat losses in Canada for full-year 2023 reached CAN $3.1 billion.
In addition to the unprecedented losses, the number of total catastrophe claims exceeded 273,000 in 2024, which is far in excess of the previous record of 197,000 in 2016.
“While the number of events that generated insured losses in excess of CAN $30 million – which CatIQ categorizes as a catastrophe – was on par with the annual average at 12, the fact that four events generated losses of CAN $1 billion or above made 2024 a record-breaking year,” the firm commented.
Within less than a month, Canada managed to record four new top-ten costliest events:
Calgary Hailstorm – 2nd
Remnants of Hurricane Debby – 3rd
Jasper Wildfire – 9th
Southern Ontario Flooding -10th
The Calgary Hailstorm, which took place in August 2024, went on to become Canada’s second-largest insurance industry loss event in the country’s history at CAN $2.8 billion, according to CatIQ.
While, estimates from CatIQ revealed that insured catastrophe losses from the wildfires that impacted the Municipality of Jasper and Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada last summer surpassed CAN $880 million.
Laura Twidle, President and CEO of CatIQ, commented: “The Canadian insurance industry has experienced back-to-back challenging years after a record-shattering number of catastrophes (24) in 2023, and four events which combined exceeded CAN $7.5 billion in just 27 days in 2024.”
Adding: “There is a clear need for continued collaboration to address the growing scale and frequency of catastrophe events across Canada but, more importantly, concerted action to mitigate the impacts of these events.”
Meanwhile, TD Insurance, part of Canada’s TD Bank group, recently priced its debut MMIFS Re Ltd. (Series 2025-1) catastrophe bond deal, with the notes finalised to pay investors a risk spread at the bottom end of already reduced guidance.
With the notes having been successfully priced, and with the sponsor securing the capital markets backed reinsurance at an attractive price, it clearly shows that there is appetite in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market for these risks.
This is the first catastrophe bond solely exposed to natural perils in Canada that we’ve ever analysed and tracked in our extensive Deal Directory.
