Severe weather and flooding that lashed southern British Columbia and parts of Alberta last month caused close to $90 million in insured damage, with B.C.’s Fraser Valley suffering the heaviest losses, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said Friday.
The damage in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, is an estimated $74 million, primarily hitting homes and businesses, it said in a statement.
The B.C. government released a flood strategy in the aftermath of widespread flooding that devastated southwestern parts of the province in November 2021, but the bureau said it “remains underfunded.”
Just over four years later, in mid-December, floodwaters from Washington state again poured over the U.S. border into neighbourhoods and farm fields in Abbotsford, prompting evacuation orders and inundating poultry barns.
The insurance bureau called on the province to prioritize its flood strategy to better protect people, including funding for flood risk mapping, protective infrastructure and incentives to help households and businesses ready their properties.
Minister of Emergency Management Kelly Greene said in response that officials know people affected by the flooding in 2021 “continue to face challenges” and the province remains committed to helping them with recovery.
“Our government has been working closely with hard-hit communities including Abbotsford, Merritt and Princeton so people will be better protected from future flooding,” she said. “But we can’t do this work alone.”
Greene said Ottawa is a critical funding partner, “but so far has not joined B.C. in supporting these communities in their recovery efforts.”
The flooding in December underscores the urgency, she said.
Aaron Sutherland, the insurance bureau’s Pacific and Western vice president, said funding community resilience and damage prevention is more cost-effective than paying to rebuild after each disaster.
“By prioritizing risk reduction and mitigation, the government can increase the number of homeowners that have access to flood insurance, which provides much more robust support than the government disaster assistance that high-risk homeowners are forced to rely on today,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.
The Canadian Press
