Severe weather and flooding that lashed southern British Columbia and parts of Alberta in December caused close to $90 million in insured damage, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) estimates cited by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
The Fraser Valley accounted for the majority of losses at an estimated $74 million, with damage concentrated in homes and businesses.
Reporting on the aftermath, The Canadian Press said floodwaters in mid-December again crossed the US border into Abbotsford-area neighbourhoods and farm fields, prompting evacuation orders and inundating poultry barns.
IBC framed the loss estimate as the latest signal that the province needs to accelerate investment in mitigation measures, four years after the catastrophic floods of 2021.
“Severe weather and flooding has once again disrupted the lives of residents and business owners across Southwestern BC and Vancouver Island,” said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president, Pacific and Western, IBC. “Coming just four years after the devastating 2021 floods, this most recent flood damage is a painful reminder of the need to build BC’s resilience and better protect communities from the new weather reality we face.”
In particular, IBC pointed to the province’s flood strategy — developed after widespread flooding in November 2021 — and said it “remains underfunded.” The bureau is urging the province to prioritize spending that includes flood-risk mapping, protective infrastructure, and incentives to help households and businesses ready their properties.
The province has said it is working with impacted communities on future protections. “Our government has been working closely with hard-hit communities, including Abbotsford, Merritt and Princeton, so people will be better protected from future flooding,” a provincial representative said in comments reported by CBC News. “But we can’t do this work alone.”
For brokers and insurers, the December loss estimate also revives questions around flood coverage availability and the role of risk reduction in expanding insurability in high-risk areas—issues that have been repeatedly raised in B.C. since the 2021 disaster. A Vancouver Sun report noted that insured losses from the 2021 flooding were much higher, at $675 million.
“Investing in community resilience and damage prevention is always more cost-effective than paying to rebuild year after year following every disaster,” added Sutherland.
“By prioritizing risk reduction and mitigation, the government can increase the number of homeowners that have access to flood insurance, which provides much more robust support than the government disaster assistance that high-risk homeowners are forced to rely on today."
