CHBA attended the Catastrophe Indices and Quantification (CatIQ) conference to gather insights that support our ongoing work on climate adaptation and housing resilience with the Resilient Homes Task Force (RHTF), which will continue its work over the next five years. The presentations highlighted that climate change is increasingly evolving independently of new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, driven instead by the large stock of GHGs already present in the atmosphere. This has led to a reinforcing feedback loop in which climate impacts, such as wildfires, release additional emissions, further intensifying future risks. While mitigation efforts remain a primary focus, adaptation and resilience continue to receive limited attention and investment.

Adaptation measures are typically designed to address low‑probability but high‑impact events, and homeowners that have not experienced climate‑related losses often place less emphasis on preparedness. The economic implications of climate impacts are significant, Canadian losses have been doubling roughly every eight years, far outpacing GDP growth. Extreme weather events also have inflationary effects, suggesting that institutions such as the Bank of Canada may need to play a role in broader climate risk discussions. Extreme heat was identified as one of the most critical long‑term threats.

Specific risks discussed included earthquakes across Canada, which could cause hundreds of billions of dollars in physical and economic damage. With the high risk of extreme natural disasters, and the absence of a federal insurance backstop, insurers are facing the pressure of having to increase their premiums or risk pulling out of certain regions that are prone to repeated extreme climatic events.