Following the federal government’s announcement that it would set aside more funding for disaster mitigation, an expert in catastrophic natural events is praising the bold decision.

“Natural disasters impact everybody,” Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction managing director Glenn McGillivray told CTV.

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The government plans to earmark $2 billion to invest in measures against the destructive effects of calamities. More specifically, McGillivray explained that the money will be used to subsidize provincial and municipal projects to protect communities against risks such as wildfires and floods.

“Things are really changing in Canada,” he added, saying that natural disasters have caused at least $1 billion in damage annually for the past few years.

Last year, insurers had to pay out a total of $4.9 billion for natural disaster-related claims; most of the costs were related to the Fort McMurray wildfire.

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McGillivray noted that it is not just the insurers who suffer whenever a disaster occurs.

“When something happens in Canada, insurance companies pick up part of the bill, but taxpayers pick up a lot of it,” he elaborated.

He underlined that the government’s plan to create a mitigation fund would pay for prevention instead of recovery.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the majority of natural disaster claims were caused by overland flooding, particularly in the Atlantic and Prairie provinces. Infrastructure projects that could control water overrun could prevent such costly disasters, and the mitigation fund can be used to pay for these initiatives.

“All levels of government have to step in, and they are,” McGillivray said. “We need more of this, but it’s a great start.”


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