Canada’s condo insurance crisis

A flood in Fort McMurray this past spring costing $100 million in damages. A June hailstorm in Calgary, now ranking as the fourth largest claim in Canadian history at $1.2 billion. These are just two examples of recent catastrophic losses impacting insuranceacross the country and contributing to a hard market, where premiums are increasing andcapacity for many types of insurance are decreasing.

As impacts trickle into condominium corporations, a recent seminar called “The Condo Insurance Crisis: Where do we go from here?” addressed concerns and solutions fromindustry members across the country. The panel talk took place at CAI Canada’s V-CON(DO) virtual condo conference that brought together board directors, property managersand various professionals across Canada.

One concern is reduced capacity. “This means while some insurance companies are still willing to insure condominiums, they’re reducing how much they write of it,” said TomGallinger, vice-president of Atrens-Counsel Insurance Brokers. “They feel it’s a risky area to insure at the pricing levels they’re at. . . they want to reduce their exposure to those big losses that could occur.”