Calgarians are being urged to stay indoors as wildfire smoke blankets the city and much of Alberta, pushing air quality to hazardous levels and underscoring the growing risks insurers face as another active wildfire season unfolds.
According to news reports, the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a warning Tuesday advising residents to avoid strenous activity outdoors and to keep windows and doors closed. The Air Quality Health Index for Calgary hit the maximum "very high risk" rating of 10+ early in the morning before easing to 8 later in the day.
The smoke is drifting south from wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan. “During heavy smoke conditions, everyone’s health is at risk regardless of their age or health status,” the ECCC alert said.
For insurers, wildfire smoke serves as a warning sign. While smoke itself is primarily a public health concern, it often indicates intensifying fire conditions that can quickly turn into destructive blazes threatening communities and infrastructure. Property losses, business interruption, auto claims, and mass evacuation costs can escalate rapidly if fire lines spread closer to populated areas.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada has warned that wildfires are now among the most expensive insured perils in the country. In 2023 alone, insured damages from wildfire events surpassed $3 billion, adding to a rising trend of climate-driven natural catastrophe losses. The Fort McMurray fires of 2016 remain Canada’s most expensive insured disaster at nearly $4 billion in claims, but more recent events in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories demonstrate that such large-scale losses are no longer rare outliers.
Reinsurers, who provide critical backup capital for Canadian insurers, are also adjusting to this new reality. Increasing frequency and severity of wildfires have contributed to tightening reinsurance capacity and higher costs across the property market. These pressures filter down to primary insurers and, ultimately, to consumers in the form of higher premiums and stricter underwriting in wildfire-exposed regions.
Although Calgary has recorded only 52 hours of wildfire smoke so far this season, insurers remain on alert. With fires still burning across the North, the risk of another costly disaster remains a real concern as the season progresses.
