CatIQ raises Jasper wildfire loss estimate to C$1.233bn

By Chris Munro

Jan 27 - (The Insurer) - The devastating wildfire that impacted Jasper, Alberta, in July and August last year is now estimated will cost insurers C$1.233bn ($860mn), according to the latest update from CatIQ.

This figure is the fourth estimate for the event issued by CatIQ, and is an increase on the C$1.053bn the Toronto-based catastrophe modeler put out 90 days after the fire was first ignited.

CatIQ’s loss estimate for the Jasper wildfire includes expected insured losses from both residential and commercial property, along with vehicle, or motor, claims.

The driver for the latest increase in CatIQ’s loss estimate is commercial property, the organisation said.

The Jasper wildfire was sparked in July. As CatIQ noted, on 22 July 2024, Parks Canada announced it was responding to multiple new fire starts in Jasper National Park.

Two fires, burning south and northeast of the Jasper townsite, were of particular concern to Parks Canada given their proximity to the community and the very dry, windy conditions t prompted officials to issue evacuation orders for all of Jasper.

The South Fire reached the Jasper townsite by the evening of 24 July, and according to CatIQ, damaged or destroyed 358 of the town’s 1,113 structures.

“The Jasper wildfire is the second costliest wildfire on record for Canada, behind the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire which, at the time, generated insured losses of C$3.64bn and 33,000 personal property claims,” said Laura Twidle, president and CEO of CatIQ.

“Though the Jasper event resulted in only about 1,700 personal property claims, the sums are much larger – on average more than four times the amount of the claims from Fort McMurray.

“This underscores the reality that a fire does not need a massive footprint to cause significant losses,” Twidle added.

CatIQ will issue a fifth update to its Jasper wildfire insured market loss on 22 July 2025, 12 months after the event’s start date.

The Jasper wildfire was one of four events that took a heavy toll on Canada’s (re)insurance market last year, leaving the industry nursing a record level of catastrophe losses.

As previously reported, Canada’s insurers were hit with a record C$8.5bn-plus of catastrophe losses in 2024, with the majority owing to losses sustained from the Jasper wildfire along with a hailstorm in Calgary and separate flooding events in Quebec and southern Ontario. The four events hit during fewer than 30 days last summer.