Actuarial Notes

Canadian Insured Losses from Catastrophic Events Total CAD 2.4 B in 2025; Societal Losses Total 3.4 B

By Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. · 2026

CatIQ's annual release on Canada's catastrophe losses for 2025, issued in Toronto on January 20, 2026 with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). Insured losses from catastrophic events in Canada totalled CAD 2.4 billion in 2025; with 1.0 billion of uninsured losses estimated by ICLR, the total societal loss was 3.4 billion. The release ranks the year in the CatIQ database, names its costliest event and counts the catastrophes declared.

The year's total

  • Insured catastrophe losses of CAD 2.4 billion in 2025, the ninth largest loss year in the CatIQ database, at the lower end of the past five years' totals.
  • The record 2024 total currently stands at $9.1 billion.
  • ICLR adds 1.0 billion of uninsured losses, for a societal loss of 3.4 billion; over 43 years of data, insurance has covered about 54% of societal losses.
  • ICLR puts the long-term trend in societal loss at $9.1 billion a year, growing 9% a year after inflation; 2025 was below it.

An unusual year

  • Second in the number of catastrophes declared — 17 events, tied for second.
  • Second in ice storm losses.
  • First in the number of fire catastrophes declared, all in provinces with no prior industry fire catastrophe.

The costliest event

  • The late-March ice storm in Ontario and Quebec, at $490 million of insured catastrophe loss, nearly a quarter of the annual total.
  • It becomes the second costliest ice storm on record, behind the 1998 ice storm, estimated at $2.3 billion in Canada (IBC 2022).

Comment

  • Laura Twidle, President and CEO of CatIQ, describes the year as a reprieve after 2024, but not a typical one: a run of snow- and melt-related events in southern Ontario and Quebec, the ice storm, and the year's fire catastrophes.
  • Paul Kovacs, Executive Director of ICLR, notes the winter storm and wildfire damage of 2025, and the flood, hail and wildfire damage of 2024, and argues that small investments in protection can reduce most losses.
  • CatIQ, with MSA Research, hosts CatIQ Connect, Canada's catastrophe conference, on February 2–4, 2026.

About CatIQ and ICLR

  • CatIQ (Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.), a subsidiary of PERILS A.G., was established in 2014 with the support of most of the Canadian insurance and reinsurance industry and provides insured loss and exposure indices through a subscription platform.
  • ICLR is an independent, not-for-profit research institute founded by the insurance industry and affiliated with Western University.

Sources