Insured flood costs estimated at $74M in B.C.’s Fraser Valley

By Canadian Press on January 16, 2026.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says 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.

A statement from the bureau says the damage in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, is an estimated $74 million, primarily hitting homes and businesses.

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 says 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 calls 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.

B.C.’s Ministry of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bureau’s statement.

Aaron Sutherland, the bureau’s Pacific and Western vice president, says 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 says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.

The Canadian Press