In the face of rising catastrophe risk, Canadian-owned insurers are walking a tightrope. Global carriers have begun pulling back from volatile regions — but rather than a flight of capital, domestic carriers are seeing something more complex: recalibration.
“I would actually suggest right now, we're not really seeing a flight of capital capacity out of the Canadian marketplace,” said Graham Haigh (pictured), senior vice president and special insurance advisor at The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company. “What we're seeing is an assessment of the accumulations that particular carriers are gaining in areas or geographies that are CAT-exposed.”
From Calgary hailstorms to B.C. wildfires, insurers are weighing whether their exposure levels reflect their market share. “If a company is looking at their mix of business and saying, ‘Hey, you know what, I'm overexposed to Calgary hail,’ I need to address that,” Haigh said.
That doesn’t mean domestic carriers like Wawanesa are rushing to fill the void. “They don't want to load up and then have an accumulation issue themselves,” Haigh said. “Are we nervous about it? Yes. Are we watching it closely? Yeah, but right now, we're not necessarily seeing that flight of capital capacity out of the market.”
This vigilance reflects a broader shift in how insurers define resilience. Pricing is no longer the only lever. The industry is increasingly focused on long-term, structural mitigation – including internal processes, systemic upgrades, and investments in local infrastructure.
“Building resilience into Canadian communities is going to be really important going forward,” Haigh said. “All of us in the insurance ecosystem need to participate. And the more aligned we can get on our voice, the better.”
Wawanesa is among the early movers. In 2025, the company is awarding more than $150,000 in Community Wildfire Prevention Grants to 12 communities as part of its annual $2 million commitment to building stronger, more resilient communities – but Haigh wants to see more, and at scale.
“What if that was 10 times that amount? What if it was 100 times that amount as an industry?” he asked. The logic, he said, is simple: “Fortified communities lead to fewer claims, more stability, and longer-term sustainability of coverage.”
That same principle extends to individual responsibility. Haigh pointed to Logan Lake, B.C., where the community embraced FireSmart practices and produced a public video demonstrating what proactive risk management can look like. “There's a variety of things that all of us need to do,” he said. “As homeowners, as asset owners, as insurers, as municipalities — we all have to play a role.”
According to Haigh, resilience is not about sweeping innovation – it’s about doing the basics better. And that starts with building codes and buyer awareness.
“In the hail zones, you have vinyl siding going back up and inexpensive asphalt shingles going back on homes in areas that are exposed to hail and wind,” he said. “We're replacing them as an industry on a regular basis to a point that at some point you just don't have capacity for those.”
His call is for more durable, preventive construction – Hardie board instead of vinyl, hail-resistant roofing, unfinished basements in flood zones. “We're at the front end of the heavy discussions going on where everyone's understanding, okay, this is not sustainable.”
Haigh’s advocacy extends to the real estate sector. His frustration is clear when it comes to how climate risk is disclosed – or ignored – in property sales.
“If you go to other jurisdictions globally, title documents will actually indicate your exposure to flood risk... earthquake... wildfire,” he said. “That really does force somebody at the time of purchase to be making that assessment.”
The push for disclosure faces resistance, especially from existing homeowners worried about property values. “Could it impact the value of their sale? Yes,” Haigh said. But that’s not reason enough to avoid change. “Purchasers deserve to be informed about the exposures that they're taking on when they make what will be the largest purchase in their lifetimes.”
Wawanesa has taken that message beyond the underwriting desk. The company supports climate resilience centres through partnerships with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), including a new facility in Winnipeg. “Its big role is to be educating government and frankly, students and others within the industry,” Haigh said.
Internally, Wawanesa is also retooling its products to reflect the new climate reality. “We're building products that actually do allow for the upgrading of materials to better withstand weather events,” Haigh said. “We have a product that provides the ability to build back better and build back stronger.”
Haigh is not predicting collapse – but he is urging urgency. Whether it’s smarter underwriting, coordinated resilience funding, or greater transparency for buyers, the industry needs to evolve fast.
“The message is consistent,” he said. “Everybody has to participate – and quickly. Or risk being left without coverage when the next CAT event comes.”
