The threat of flooding may seem far away during the hot, dry days of summer, but millions of Canadians live in homes that could be threatened by floodwaters in just a few months.
Frequent flooding means more insurance claims, which drive up insurance premiums, especially for high-risk homes. Since 2013, flooding has resulted in about $850 million in insured losses every year. About 10 per cent of Canadian households now face such a high risk of flooding they can’t get flood insurance to protect their homes and belongings, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“As a result of this increased risk that’s being driven by climate change … we’re seeing that some insurers are reducing their coverage or their exposure in certain regions,” Craig Stewart, the bureau’s vice president of climate change and federal issues, told The Narwhal.
When insurance companies stop offering coverage to high-risk areas, governments are left to fill the gap with programs like disaster financial assistance.
But doling out cash in the wake of a recurrent risk like flooding can be a bit like slapping a Band-Aid on a leak: it may offer short-term relief but it doesn’t address the factors creating the risk in the first place, things like location, construction and community infrastructure.
Ryan Ness, director of adaptation with the Canadian Climate Institute, said in an interview that disaster relief also doesn’t incentivize communities or individuals to reduce their risk. “There’s just an assumption that you’ll be covered if something goes wrong and you don’t have to take any action to reduce the likelihood that you will be flooded and experience a lot of damage,” he told The Narwhal.
A national flood insurance program, first floated by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019, could offer a more proactive response to flood-prone Canadian communities. Basically, public funding would be dedicated to lowering insurance premiums for high-risk homes to help more Canadians get coverage. But progress has been slow. The 2023 federal budget dedicated $31.7 million over three years to kickstart the program with Public Safety Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation leading the effort. A consultation period on the program’s possible parameters ended just before the 2025 federal election was called.
A well-designed program would incentivize both homeowners and communities to take steps to lower the risk of future floods, Ness said.
“Say, for example, the premiums are lower if you install a backflow valve or if your community invests in dykes — you can send price signals with insurance that encourage people and communities to do things to reduce the risk,” he said.
Ness and Stewart agree Canada’s national flood insurance program has to be paired with investments in flood mitigation and protection. If it isn’t, flood risks are likely to continue increasing and could eventually push premiums past the point of affordability once again.
“We need to be thinking about the future and prioritizing adaptation while we’re developing a flood insurance program,” Stewart said.
B.C. minister says she hasn’t heard much from Ottawa about progress on the program this year
Trudeau’s proposed flood insurance program is still a ways from becoming a reality. Since it was first announced, Canadian communities have suffered a number of catastrophic floods, including a billion-dollar Toronto flood and two atmospheric rivers in B.C. that caused massive damage to communities in the Fraser Valley as well as several tragic deaths.
On the campaign trail this April, the federal Liberal Party pledged $450 million over five years for a national flood insurance program with a launch date of April 2026. But Public Safety Canada, the federal department leading the program’s development, would not confirm the April 2026 timeline.
In an emailed statement to The Narwhal, a department spokesperson said work to develop a national flood insurance program is ongoing.
“More information on the timeline for the program will be shared as it becomes available,” the spokesperson wrote.
Kelly Greene, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, is eager to see the program move forward but said she hasn’t heard much from Ottawa on the issue since being appointed to her post in November 2024.
“My concerns right now are that the program appears to be stalled,” Greene said in an interview. “I haven’t really received a substantive update on any progress that’s been made.”
“The program has certainly taken much longer to roll out than we had anticipated,” Stewart said. “We are hopeful that the new Carney government will prioritize the program and get it over the finish line this year and we’re working as collaboratively as possible with them to make that happen.”
Public flood insurance should be affordable and targeted: advocates
B.C. wants to ensure the program provides affordable insurance options for people living in flood-prone areas, Greene said, and doesn’t impose overly high costs on provincial governments.
“It’s really important that we’re targeting it where it is needed the most, but also not unduly burdening British Columbia or British Columbians with additional costs,” she said.
Provinces will likely be required to contribute toward the national program in some way, Stewart said, such as providing funding for subsidized premiums or risk mitigation. While provincial governments might prefer Ottawa bear the brunt of the program’s costs, he believes provincial contributions should reflect the significant role provincial policies play in reducing or boosting risk.
“If provincial governments are going to increase the overall liability by adding housing in flood plains, for example, then they need to take ownership for subsidizing the insurance for those properties,” Stewart said.
One way to deter development in high-risk areas, Ness said, would be to make new homes built in them ineligible for the national flood insurance program.
“Otherwise, you’ll send a message that if you build new homes in flood risk zones, the public insurance program will cover them,” he added. “An insurance program should only be intended to cover people that are already at risk.”
Asked about the role her ministry plays in ensuring B.C. communities are not building in risky areas, Greene said she plans to discuss potential building code changes with federal housing and infrastructure minister Gregor Robertson during an upcoming meeting.
“One of the things I want to talk about is … how we can look at building code as a way to build resilience into communities,” she said.
Even with a national flood insurance program in place, Greene acknowledges that supporting flood mitigation in high-risk B.C. communities will have to remain a high priority for the province. So far this year, the province has dedicated about $28 million to community-led projects aimed at mitigating climate-driven hazards, including floods. Greene also highlighted more than $370 million her ministry has provided to communities that have experienced flooding, including Merritt, Princeton and Abbotsford.
“Insurance alone is not the answer,” she said. “We know that and I think that that’s reflected in all of the work that we’ve been doing helping communities to reduce their risk across B.C., particularly on flood hazard. It’s a very devastating impact to communities. It affects infrastructure. It affects people’s ability to get employment. It affects everything.”
This story is available for use by Canadian Press clients through an agreement with The Narwhal. It was originally published in The Narwhal, a non-profit online magazine that publishes in-depth journalism about the natural world in Canada. Sign up for weekly updates at thenarwhal.ca/newsletter.
Shannon Waters, The Narwhal
