The prairies have been hit by a series of severe storms this summer, with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) saying two days of storms in June caused more than $840M in insured losses in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The estimate, based on data from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc., is for the June 9 and 10 storms, which brought tornadoes, hail, damaging winds, torrential rain and flash flooding to the provinces. “This event in June does represent a significant increase for the year,” Rachel Barry with IBC said in an interview with CTV News. The storms caused more insured losses than all of 2025. Barry said wildfires, flash flooding, hail and strong winds caused about $760M in insured losses in Saskatchewan and Manitoba that year. “This is part of an increasing trend of losses in the prairies.” Since 2021, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have recorded 30 catastrophic weather events, resulting in more than $2.5B in insured losses, according to IBC. That works out to nearly $1,000 per person across the two provinces over the past five years. IBC says five catastrophic weather events have impacted Saskatchewan and Manitoba so far this year, including a dust storm that brought damaging winds to the two provinces and caused $40M in insured losses. CatIQ is expected to release initial estimates soon for storms, hail and flooding that hit the two provinces between June 26 and July 11. “Rising losses have put pressures on insurance premiums. That will continue as events increase,” Barry said. She said immediate action is needed to prevent the problem from getting worse in the long term. “All orders of government really do need to take this problem seriously and to start investing and taking immediate steps to reduce Canadians exposure to these extreme weather events.” IBC says governments can help reduce damage by supporting homeowners who make upgrades to protect their homes and limiting new construction in high-risk flood and wildfire areas.
