Alberta fires push Canada’s insurable damage to record $4.9 billion in 2016: IBC
CALGARY — The wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alta., and flooding in Atlantic Canada were driving factors behind a record $4.9 billion in insurable damage last year, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said Friday.
The industry group said the estimated insurable damage toll was about $1.7 billion higher than the previous full-year record of $3.2 billion set in 2013.
Canada’s most costly disaster last year was the northern Alberta wildfire that forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray and surrounding areas, reducing to charred rubble 1,800 single-family homes and numerous other structures including buildings containing about 600 apartments or condo units.
The hit to insurers from the fires was estimated at $3.7 billion, three-quarters of the national total for the year and twice as expensive as the previous most-expensive natural disaster in Canada on record.