Flooding, flooding everywhere – do Canadians have insurance for it? Blair Feltmate head of Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation comments

Friday, May 5, 2017

water institute members in the media
Global news released a story today on the surprising lack of awareness among Canadian homeowners about flood compensation, and what Canadians can do to prepare for flooding. 

Researchers at the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change and the Partners for Action research network at the University of Waterloo surveyed 2,300 homeowners who live in communities that the Government of Canada’s Flood Damage Reduction Program designated as flood-risk areas.

The study found that 94 percent of respondents are unaware of their risk and don’t know that recent government policy changes puts the onus on homeowners to insure their homes.

The story includes comments by Water Institute member Blair Feltmate, of the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. 

"Flooding, flooding everywhere – do Canadians have insurance for it?

By Rebecca Joseph and Erica Alini in Global News, Mar. 5, 2017

[...] From New Brunswick to Quebec, through Ontario, Manitoba and to British Columbia, Canadians have been coping with flooding or bracing for torrential downpours.

And yet, flood insurance is still a relatively new concept in the Great White North.

Overland flood insurance, which covers damage from water flowing above ground and seeping in through windows, doors and cracks, only became widely available in the last couple of years, according to Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. [...]

Read the full story by Rebecca Joseph and Erica Alini in Global News.