Ten Prairie storms caused $1.8B in insured losses: IBC

Ten extreme weather events across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba caused more than $1.8 billion in insured damage this summer, with heavy rain and flooding, rather than the usual hail and wind, driving most of the losses, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The Prairie figures, based on initial estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), were released by IBC on Sept. 22. On Oct. 22, the bureau said those storms helped make summer 2026 the third-costliest on record in Canada, with more than $3.7 billion in insured losses nationwide.

"Once again, the Canadian Prairies have been hit hard by extreme weather, with floods, hailstorms and tornadoes causing extensive damage to homes and businesses," Aaron Sutherland, IBC's vice-president for Pacific and Western Canada, said in the September release. "The growing frequency, severity, and financial cost of these events demands that we rethink how we can better protect communities moving forward and increase investment in resilience now."

Wind, hail and wildfires are typically the most expensive summer risks on the Prairies, IBC said, but this year rainfall and flooding caused the bulk of the damage. Edmonton took the worst of it, with record rainfall in June and July.

The costliest storms

The single most expensive event struck Saskatchewan and Manitoba on June 9 and 10. Tornadoes, hail, damaging winds, torrential rain and flash flooding hit tens of thousands of homes and businesses, causing more than $900 million in insured losses.

Thunderstorms that swept from Alberta to northern Ontario between July 4 and 6 caused more than $270 million in damage. IBC said some areas reported hail the size of billiard balls, along with 100 millimetres of rain and strong wind gusts.

Two June events each topped $160 million. Prolonged rain on June 20 and 21 overwhelmed sewer systems in and around Edmonton, flooding basements and streets. From June 26 to 30, a slow-moving storm flooded parts of all three provinces, and Canmore and Kananaskis County declared local states of emergency.

In southern Alberta, severe thunderstorms on Aug. 11 dropped very large hail and heavy rain on communities including Lethbridge, Coaldale, Claresholm and Didsbury, causing nearly $70 million in insured losses.

Edmonton was hit again on July 10 and 11, when a two-day outbreak produced rain, hail and 10 tornadoes across Alberta and Saskatchewan, costing more than $140 million. On July 18, storms along Alberta's central foothills spawned two EF2 tornadoes, one south of Rocky Mountain House and another to the east near Leslieville, and brought another round of flooding to Edmonton, for more than $40 million in losses.

The remaining events were flooding in the Edmonton area from May 31 to June 2 (more than $80 million), an Aug. 23 hailstorm that shredded siding and smashed windows in Springbrook, south of Red Deer (nearly $40 million), and a May 14 windstorm that kicked up a dust storm across southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba (more than $40 million).

Third-worst summer nationally

IBC's Oct. 22 national tally ranks summer 2026 behind only 2024 ($8.8 billion) and 2013 ($3.9 billion), in inflation-adjusted 2025 dollars. Four of the five costliest summers on record have come in the last six years, the bureau said.

Besides the Prairie storms, the national figure includes $1.1 billion from June storms in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Montreal, which partly overlaps with the Prairie total; $439 million from early-summer storms in Ontario and Quebec; $360 million from flooding in Ontario's Niagara Region in July and August; and $550 million from British Columbia wildfires.

"This summer's extreme weather once again highlights the significant impact that severe weather events are having" on communities, IBC president and CEO Celyeste Power said in the October release.

Over the last decade, insured losses from extreme weather in Canada have averaged about $3.7 billion a year, up from $1.4 billion the decade before and $883 million in the decade before that, according to IBC. The full year 2024 remains the costliest on record, with more than $9 billion in insured losses.

What IBC wants

The bureau is calling on all levels of government to keep new homes out of high-risk flood and wildfire zones, strengthen building codes, invest in flood protection and other resilient infrastructure, and offer homeowners incentives to make their properties more resistant to severe weather.

Homeowners with questions about their coverage can call IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC (1-844-227-5422).