Insurers are facing a bill of C$5.15bn ($3.19bn) for natural catastrophe losses so far this year in Canada, after a flurry of major events since January have made 2024 the most expensive year on record for the local market, according to CatIQ data seen by this publication.
CatIQ identified nine separate major nat cat events in the country, with the most expensive being the Calgary hailstorm in August. Hail, water and windstorms led to C$2.82bn in insured incurred losses, including loss adjuster expenses (LAE).
Canada also experienced a number of insured loss events that came in around the ~C$1bn mark, including the Southern Ontario flash flooding in July and the Jasper wildfires that started the same month and ran into August.
Notably, the CatIQ estimate did not include losses from Hurricane Debby, which is understood to have caused significant insured losses from flooding in Quebec, particularly Montreal, from 10 August.
As Insurance Insider reported at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, market sources have suggested that Canadian insured losses from Debby would likely come in between C$1.5bn and C$2bn, with some suggesting this figure could be much higher.
With CatIQ data showing insured losses standing at C$5.15bn in early September, 2024 is already a more expensive year for insurers than the previous record-breaking year of 2016.
The 2016 loss bill for Canadian reinsurers came in at C$5.06bn, driven largely by the historic Fort McMurray wildfires.
The CatIQ data seen by this publication is set to be released by trade association the Insurance Bureau of Canada tomorrow (11 September).
As Insurance Insider has reported, reinsurers are expecting to be handed a significant portion of the insured loss bill – running into the low billions – from Canadian insurers this year.
One source estimated that, taking into account the increase in retentions on Canadian property programmes in 2023, the reinsurance market can expect to pick up around 30% of the loss burden.
Canadian cedants have been out to the reinsurance market in recent weeks in search of top-up coverage to see them through 2024.
As this publication has explored, Canadian cat reinsurance is largely priced for its peak earthquake exposure, but the string of 2024 disaster losses have highlighted the country’s broad peril exposure.
CatIQ declined to comment.