Statistics Canada released Extreme weather impacts on consumers and insurers in Canada, December 2019 to December 2025: An updated analysis on June 16. The report found passenger vehicle insurance premiums rose 23.9% from December 2019 to December 2025. Over the same period, the all-items Consumer Price Index rose 21.0%.
Home insurance rose even faster. Homeowners’ home and mortgage insurance premiums increased 45.0% over the six-year period, more than double overall inflation.
Canadians are seeing insurance costs grow faster than the rate of inflation, a new report from Statistics Canada has found.
The federal agency reported that property and casualty insurers have faced pressure from more extreme weather events, higher building and replacement costs, higher repair costs, rising vehicle prices and thefts. Those costs have contributed to higher insurance expenses and higher premiums for consumers.
The report follows earlier Statistics Canada research on auto insurance profitability. That analysis found the automobile insurance claims ratio rose after the pandemic lull and peaked at 90.4% in the third quarter of 2024. The claims ratio tracks claims costs against premiums.
The earlier auto insurance analysis linked higher claims costs to collisions, thefts, repair costs, vehicle prices and inflation. It also noted that newer safety features can reduce fatalities while increasing repair costs when vehicle damage occurs.
In January, the Insurance Bureau of Canada reported insured damage from severe weather exceeded $2.4 billion in 2025, making it the tenth costliest year on record for severe weather-related insured losses in Canada.
The IBC cited several 2025 events, including the late-March ice storm in Ontario and Quebec, wildfires in Flin Flon, Man., and La Ronge, Sask., a July hailstorm in Calgary, severe Prairie storms in August that caused significant hail damage to vehicles in Brooks, Alta., and December flooding in British Columbia.
“Severe weather events continue to intensify. Two decades ago, insured losses seldom surpassed $500 million in a year. Today, annual costs exceeding $1 billion have become the norm,” said Celyeste Power, president and chief executive officer of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, in the Jan. 20 release.
Power said governments need to invest in resilience to help keep insurance available and affordable.
The IBC reported catastrophic weather and wildfire insured losses totalled $37 billion between 2016 and 2025, adjusted for inflation. That was nearly triple the $14 billion recorded between 2006 and 2015. The average number of claims nearly doubled over the same period.
