insured losses

Ten extreme weather events impacted the Canadian Prairies this summer, causing widespread damage and over $1.8 billion in insured losses, according to initial estimates from CatIQ. This surge in claims has prompted the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) to urge governments to take immediate action to help reduce the country’s exposure to extreme weather events.

CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure index provider, has raised its insurance industry loss estimate for the June 2026 flooding event that impacted Montreal’s West Island and the surrounding areas to CAD $442 million, a 7.5% increase from its second loss estimate of CAD $411 million that was issued in August.

CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure index provider, has raised its insurance industry loss estimate from the severe storm outbreak that affected Saskatchewan and Manitoba in the Canadian Prairies in early June to CAD $923 million, an 8.5% increase from its second loss estimate of CAD $850 million that was issued in July.

According to Verisk, the global data analytics and technology provider, the insurance industry should be prepared to withstand an average $171 billion in annual natural catastrophe losses in any given year, according to the firm’s latest average annual losses (AAL) benchmark.

CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure index provider, has raised its insurance industry loss estimate from the severe thunderstorm event that affected parts of southern Ontario and southern Quebec, between June 30th and July 3rd, 2026, to CAD $439 million, a 17.5% increase from the firm’s initial loss estimate of $374 million.

According to reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, year-to-date industry losses from US severe convective storms in 2026 have accelerated and climbed above $35 billion, as the peril’s quieter start to the opening months of the year have since given way to prolific activity.

Catastrophe data aggregator PERILS has published its third industry loss estimate for extratropical windstorm Nils, also known as “Ulrike”, that struck the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions in southwest France in mid-February, placing the insurance market loss at €695 million, a notable decline from its second estimate that was published in May.

Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorm activity that struck the Midwest of the United States earlier this month is seen as having the potential to result in a top-10 severe weather insurance industry loss event, which implies that the cost could be around $5.1 billion or higher to the market, according to broker Guy Carpenter.

CatIQ, the Toronto-based independent catastrophe insurance data provider, has published a final insurance industry loss estimate of CAD $2.80 billion from the severe flooding generated by the remnants of Hurricane Debby that impacted Ontario and Quebec between August 9th and 10th, 2024.

The Swiss Re Institute has estimated that global insured losses from natural catastrophe events reached US $42 billion in the first half of 2026, marking the lowest first-half total recorded since 2020, and 16% below the 10-year average.