Wawanesa Insurance has partnered with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) to open a new ICLR Climate Resilience Centre in Winnipeg in the coming months.
Under the tie-up, Wawanesa will provide the required office space and funds to set up and operate the centre at 191 Broadway Avenue, the insurer’s former Canadian headquarters.
Graham Haigh, senior vice president and West chief operations officer at Wawanesa, noted: “Through this partnership, Wawanesa will play a useful role in helping Canadians adapt to the increasing effects and risks of climate change.
“ICLR is a leader in providing property owners, businesses, insurers, governments, and academic institutions with high-quality information on reducing the risk of extreme weather on Canadian homes, businesses, and communities.
“With this new Climate Resilience Centre in Winnipeg, which will serve all of Canada, ICLR will reach even more stakeholders and help us all better prepare for the extreme weather that is here now and which will become more extreme in the years ahead.”
The facility aims to be a focal point for various stakeholders – insurers, reinsurers, brokers, home builders, and building code officials, among others – to gather, learn, and exchange ideas on best practices and the issues surrounding climate resilience.
ICLR executive director Paul Kovacs commented on the collaboration: “ICLR is thrilled to partner with Wawanesa Insurance on this groundbreaking initiative. Talking to people and showing them a picture or telling them about resilience to severe weather can be too abstract and almost meaningless.
“Actually showing them how resilience features work, allowing people to push a button or turn a dial, and fostering a dialogue brings life to the science of resilience and helps to further understanding of what needs to be done to protect Canadians against severe weather.”
ICLR was established by the insurance industry in 1997 as an independent, not-for-profit research and outreach institute to champion disaster resilience in Canada.
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