Many homeowners are unprepared for flooding because they lack critical information thanks to murky real estate rules, incomplete floodplain maps and an insurance industry pulling back from high-risk areas, a Marketplace investigation has found.
Marketplace also found homeowners who lost their flood protection because of multiple claims or specifically because of the growing risk of climate change. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) warns it’s a situation more Canadians could find themselves in.
Watch the full Marketplace investigation tonight at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV and CBC Gem
The IBC told Marketplace it estimates that anywhere from six to 10 per cent of Canadian homes are currently uninsurable due to flooding and that estimate could go up as more insurance companies update their risk assessments to account for the rising threat of climate change.
“As the risk from climate change increases, yes, more Canadians could become uninsurable,” said Craig Stewart, vice-president, federal affairs with the IBC.
According to a 2019 federal government report, Canada’s climate is warming at double the rate of the rest of the world, and the IBC estimates that currently 1 in 10 Canadian homes is at high risk of flooding and some face possible repeated flooding over the next 20 years.
But would prospective homeowners be warned about that risk? Going undercover, posing as new homebuyers in Ontario, a Marketplace team found there’s no Canada-wide requirement for agents or sellers to warn potential buyers that they’re moving into a flood-prone area. Marketplace was told on two occasions that homes were not in floodplains when public data showed otherwise. In another test, a producer posing as a prospective home seller also found agents didn’t always advise her to disclose past flood damage.
The recent flooding in British Columbia has made the issue of flood insurance coverage top of mind for many homeowners, as some residents there, unable to find coverage, turn to provincial disaster assistance, and others assess what coverage they have as the cleanup begins.
‘They’re trying to protect their money’
But in some cases, even being prepared isn’t enough. Derrick Terakita knew his home in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, was in a floodplain and thought he had adequate coverage, until he got his insurance renewal this year. In May his insurance provider informed him it was taking away his overland water coverage. The reason: the increasing severity of weather due to climate change.
“I was a little bit ticked off, but then it’s an insurance company, they’re trying to protect their money,” Terakita told Marketplace.
WATCH | Insurance nightmares: Many Canadians not protected from flooding disasters:
Murky real estate rules and insurance eligibility leaving Canadians with big bills after flooding
13 hours ago
Flooding is the most costly and common natural disaster in Canada, but risk-averse insurance companies and the lack of a nationwide requirement for real estate agents to disclose flood risk are leaving Canadians vulnerable. 2:16
Overland flood insurance typically protects homeowners from flooding from a body of water overflowing onto dry land. According to the IBC, protection from flooding due to burst pipes or appliances is typically included in most home policies. Sewer backup protection is also commonly available as an add-on. But overland flood insurance only became an option in Canada in 2015, following massive flooding in southern Alberta in 2013 that, at the time, was ranked as the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history.
Marketplace connected Terakita with an insurance expert to better understand his situation. He then contacted his insurance broker to see if his provider could reinstate his coverage if he took steps to protect his home. The answer was no.
‘Insurance will become a luxury for the rich’
“We can’t really offer the coverage because again, it’s no longer applicable to your territory,” the broker told Terakita over the phone as Marketplace cameras rolled. “Even if there was some sort of mitigation put into place, it’s still not going to be applicable.”
Insurance expert Jason Thistlethwaite says that if we don’t manage climate risk better, insurance may eventually become a luxury and unaffordable for most people. (Steven D’Souza/CBC)
Marketplace showed Terakita’s experience with his insurance company to Jason Thistlethwaite, an associate professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
“It’s unfortunate but insurance companies are businesses and they’re looking at their bottom line and they are going to make a judgment on their risk appetite,” said Thistlethwaite, who noted that flooding is the most costly and common hazard in Canada.
Thistlethwaite worries that many more Canadians will soon find themselves in Terakita’s shoes.
“Insurability — or markets where insurance is available and affordable — is eroding in Canada,” Thistlethwaite said. “Unless we make more effort to manage climate risk, insurance will become a luxury for the rich and unaffordable for most.”
Insurance industry responds
Stewart from the IBC agrees that insurance companies need to do a better job of giving incentives to customers like Terakita who want to be proactive in protecting their home.
Craig Stewart, seen here evaluating the aftermath of a tornado, is with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. He says the industry can’t shoulder all the risk for insuring high-risk homes and that a government-backed, high-risk insurance pool needs to be created. (Submitted by Craig Stewart)
He says in a competitive marketplace, customers like Terakita can shop around for coverage. Though he acknowledges that finding another option isn’t guaranteed and the industry has its limitations when it comes to overland insurance protection.
“The industry’s new to [overland flood protection] in Canada, but we’re only going to be able to provide a certain amount of protection. We are going to need to collaborate with the government, especially for those who will continue to reside in the highest-risk areas in the country.”
The solution the IBC proposes is a national high-risk residential flood insurance program, which would provide insurance to residents in the most flood-prone areas, funded by the federal government.
It’s one idea the Liberal government is studying as part of it’s National Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation, which was formed last year. The group is also studying options to relocate people who live in areas with repeated flooding.
Stewart, a member of the task force through the IBC, says they’ll present recommendations to Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair in the spring, but programs aren’t likely to roll out until 2023 or 2024.
“We need all hands on deck, and insurers will absolutely play their part in addressing the problem, but we can’t do it alone,” Stewart said.
Debris litters a road in the Sumas Prairie flood zone in Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 22. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Asked by CBC News about the insurance situation during a news conference in Ottawa last week, Blair said the recent flooding in British Columbia underscores the importance of the task force’s work.
“It does, I think, add an element of urgency to our work with the insurance industry and the development of a National Flood Insurance Plan,” Blair said.
Government-backed flood insurance does come with its share of problems. In the U.S., the National Flood Insurance Program has a $20 billion US shortfall and is often criticized for using outdated information and incentivizing rebuilding in problem areas.
Homeowners unaware of the risk
Despite the stark warnings about the impact of climate change and the threat of flooding, the issue isn’t always top of mind. A 2020 survey by Partners for Action, a climate resiliency network based at the University of Waterloo, found only six per cent of Canadians living in designated flood-risk areas knew they lived in such an area, and only a quarter said their insurance company had discussed flood coverage options with them.
In Toronto, Woodee Aboy recently moved into his home but didn’t know the neighbourhood is a floodplain designated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority until Marketplace knocked on his door. He was also unsure that his home insurance policy covered him against all types of flooding.
After Marketplace connected him with an insurance expert, he contacted his provider and found he was in fact fully covered for a range of flood scenarios, including overland.
“Gaining that confidence, gaining that peace of mind has been a very fulfilling experience to tell you honestly,” Aboy told Marketplace.
No Canada-wide requirement for disclosing future flood risk
Aboy and other homeowners Marketplace spoke with say they were not informed when they purchased their home that there was a risk of potential flooding.
Toronto resident Woodee Aboy wasn’t aware his home was located in a flood-prone area until contacted by Marketplace. He later confirmed that his home insurance policy does protect him for a range of flood scenarios. (Steven D’Souza/CBC)
Part of the challenge, Marketplace found, is that disclosure rules around future flood risk are vague and vary across the country. It’s not information real estate agents may know how to find, or the flood mapping in the area may be out of date or incomplete.
In an undercover test, Marketplace posed as buyers looking at Greater Toronto Area properties situated in floodplains — areas designated in publicly available maps by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The result: agents selling two of four properties denied the homes were at risk of potential flooding.
Marketplace: “I noticed there’s a waterway nearby. I’m just wondering, are there flooding issues, or is flooding a concern for that area?”
Agent: “For that property? No, it’s too far away.”
Marketplace: “So it’s not on a floodplain or anything?”
Agent: “No no no.”
Marketplace: “So we shouldn’t be worried about that?”
Agent: “No, no.”
Later, posing as a seller looking to unload a home that had had previous flood damage, a producer called agents in five cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. Marketplace found nine out of 10 agents were clear that past flooding should be disclosed. But one agent said that if the cause of the flood had been repaired, then there was no need for disclosure.
WATCH | Here’s how to protect your home from flooding:
Insurance expert Cheryl Evans explains how to flood-proof your home
18 hours ago
Cheryl Evans, a director at the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, explains what steps homeowners can take to try and flood-proof their homes 2:00
The agent’s advice, however, seems to line up with information Marketplace received from the regulator in his home province, the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA). “If the defect is properly repaired, there is no longer a defect, and disclosure is not required,” RECA said.
The rules around disclosure in some provinces also leave some room for interpretation. For example, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), the regulator in that province, says that past flooding is “often” considered a latent defect — defined as “a physical defect that is not discoverable through a visual inspection.” RECO says sellers are only obligated to disclose these when the issue is “dangerous” or could make the property “uninhabitable,” though it notes the issue often ends up in the courts.
“It is to your advantage to be as truthful as you can, for your own protection, when you’re making these declarations,” one agent advised.
Marketplace producers also asked some of those agents whether disclosing future flood risk or floodplains was recommended, but answers were less clear. Some recommended disclosing, some said it was speculative and “buyer beware.”
Toronto real estate agent Chris Chopik wants to see more transparency in the industry around climate risk. (CBC)
The challenge, experts say, is that there is no Canada-wide requirement to disclose future flood risk.
“There’s a requirement to disclose known risks, so the question comes, what is known and what’s knowable?” said Toronto real estate agent Chris Chopik.
Chopik has been pushing for years for more transparency around climate risk in real estate. He’d like to see something akin to a walk score, but for climate: an easy-to-digest number assessing a home’s overall risk from the impacts of climate change.
The federal government has committed $63 million to improving floodplain mapping within three years, but experts say there’s a long way to go.
“I would describe floodplain mapping as saying, right now we’re at the Windows ’95 version of flood mapping,” said Stewart with the IBC. “What we need to do in pretty short order is get up to Windows 10. We are behind other countries.”
Prince Edward Island recently launched a new coastal hazards platform, while a researcher at Western University in Ontario recently released what the university calls the first Canada-wide maps showing how floodplains may be affected by various climate change scenarios over the next 80 years.
Chopik says that while there are fears that more information about potential flood risk could devalue a home, ultimately more information will level the playing field and make potential buyers aware of climate-related risks.
“If we’re going to make this a fair marketplace where we have caveat emptor — buyer beware — we really need a place where everyone can look at the risk soberly and then make decisions.”
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
TORONTO – The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year — and the majority of those procedures could have been prevented.
The report issued today says people with diabetes living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods are three times more likely to have an amputation than those living in the highest-income communities.
It also says people with diabetes living in remote communities are at higher risk of leg amputations than those living in urban centres.
Erin Pichora, CIHI’s program lead for population health, says lack of access to a primary-care provider to help people manage diabetes is one likely factor behind the inequalities.
She says disparities are also likely in access to specialists who can treat diabetic wounds on people’s feet — including podiatrists and chiropodists — before they worsen.
Diabetes Canada says the report shows the importance of ensuring people with diabetes have equitable access to the care and resources they need.
“People living with diabetes who undergo amputations face significant emotional and financial distress,” Laura O’Driscoll, senior manager of policy at Diabetes Canada, said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press.
“We need to ensure that everyone with diabetes has affordable, timely access to the medications, devices, education, and care needed to manage their condition and prevent complications like amputation.”
The CIHI researchers reviewed hospital records from across Canada for fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 and found about 7,720 “lower limb” amputations associated with diabetes per year among people 18 and older.
Each year there were about 3,080 hospitalizations for “above-ankle” leg amputations and 4,640 hospitalizations for “ankle-and-below” amputations, including feet and toes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
GRAND FORKS, B.C. – Wildfire officials say an evacuation order for the B.C. southern Interior town of Grand Forks, has been downgraded to an alert, even as an out-of-control wildfire in Washington state surges north and threatens to cross the border.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary says residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice since the Goosmus wildfire remains a risk to life and safety.
Emergency Info BC says the updated alert, posted late Wednesday, is in place for west of Highway 41 and south of Highway 3, as well as properties west of Highway 3 from Sleepy Hollow Rd to Phoenix Rd.
It is advising everyone under alert to review their emergency plans and stock a grab-and-go bag.
The district says that when necessary, residents should leave via Highway 3, go to the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena in Grand Forks, and wait in their vehicles until the reception centre opens.
The district says if you cannot evacuate at that time, you should call 911.
The BC Wildfire Service dashboard says the fire was discovered Wednesday and is about two square kilometres in size.
Mark Stephens, director of the district’s emergency operations centre, called it “a very fast-moving and developing situation.”
“We ask everyone to stay vigilant and to keep checking the (regional district’s) website for information,” he said in an online statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
Calgary police fired stun guns at a man and punched him in the head before he was put in restraints and died, investigators with Alberta’s police watchdog said Wednesday.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT, said in a release that police were called on Sept. 17 about a man loitering near the check-in desk of the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre.
The agency said the man appeared dazed when he was told to leave by an officer. The man tried to pick up items from the floor that weren’t there.
When the officer pointed a Taser at the man, ordering him again to leave, ASIRT said the man raised his hands and started to walk out. He told police: “I don’t want to die.”
“The lone officer tells the male to stop talking and continues to point the weapon at him,” the agency said.
It said two other officers began walking through the main doors toward the man, and he stopped and repeated that he didn’t want to die. The first officer put away his Taser and tried to grab the man.
“At no point during the interaction had the male been identified, nor was he ever told he was being detained or under arrest,” ASIRT said.
It said the man physically resisted the officer and was tackled to the ground by another officer, who then punched the man in the head. At this point, ASIRT said the three officers fought the man for 3 1/2 minutes with “various uses of force.”
The man was put in handcuffs and leg restraints, and a spit mask was placed on his mouth, said ASIRT.
“The male is noted to be bleeding from the mouth and vomits,” the agency said.
It said seven minutes later, the man was sedated by emergency crews and left lying face down. After three more minutes, he was found to be unresponsive.
“The male was then provided medical care but declared deceased at the scene.”
Calgary police said in a release that same day that officers were called to the hotel for a man “acting erratically” in the lobby who was refusing to leave. They said the man wasn’t co-operating and was still being combative after a Taser was pulled out.
Police said the man was pepper-sprayed and taken into custody and shortly after went into medical distress.
A police spokeswoman said Wednesday the three officers involved have been placed on a standard 30-day leave.
“We know there’s a family and a community grieving this loss and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time,” said a statement.
ASIRT, which looks into serious allegations of police misconduct, said its investigation will examine the use of force by the officers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
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