Celyeste Power, president, CEO, Insurance Bureau of Canada
Canada’s political and regulatory environment is evolving, creating both opportunities and challenges for the industry. We’re seeing a growing trend toward sweeping regulations, new taxation and increased government intervention. We’ve seen regulators’ scope and pace of consultations increase. OSFI has an obligation to monitor and respond to global developments and trends. IBC understands that and is advocating for a balanced approach that reflects the diversity and complexity of the P&C industry. And that goes for taxation too.
From a political perspective, we’ve seen the Alberta government intervene in the market in ways that will make it harder for consumers to find insurance. One insurer has already left the Alberta market, leaving 16,000 drivers searching for new providers. We’re continuing to advocate for reforms that give consumers more choice. But the government’s response points to a need to educate governments, decision makers and consumers about the industry. We have to raise awareness of the value that the industry brings to Canadians across the country. We need to remind decision makers that our industry is there to help people – oftentimes on the worst day of their lives. We can’t easily change the way people feel about our industry, but with education, we can change the way people think about us.
We’re seeing increasingly dangerous weather events that are growing in frequency and severity. During 2023, more than 5,000 forest fires burned across our country. Millions of hectares were lost – a record summer in all the worst ways. Over the last decade, insured losses from natural disasters averaged $2.2 billion a year, far exceeding the average in the previous decade (2001-2010) of $632 million. And in the last two years, this year included, we’ve surpassed $3 billion in insured losses for natural catastrophes.
We’re pleased the federal government committed to a national flood insurance program in its spring budget, and IBC is focused on pressing the government to operationalize the program. We don’t have a moment to lose.
I believe the impact of the technological changes we are seeing, from connected, autonomous vehicles to AI, will spark some really fascinating conversations around what these changes mean for our industry. AI, in particular, leads to some compelling questions: what does this mean for insurers? What about privacy? How can it make us more effective and efficient? These are questions that, in many cases, companies will answer for themselves.
