'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
The federal government committed $31.7 million over three years in its latest budget toward a low-cost flood insurance program.
The insurance industry has been calling for a government-backed program to help households at increasingly high risk of damage from flooding due to extreme weather.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada called the funding a "major step forward" in a statement responding to the budget Tuesday evening.
Flooding is Canada's greatest climate-related risk, with more than 1.5 million households considered highly exposed to flooding, said president and CEO Celyeste Power in the statement.
"Today's funding from the federal government will help ensure all homeowners, regardless of their risk, have access to affordable flood insurance," she said.
Recently highlighting this risk was last year's hurricane Fiona, which caused flooding for many Atlantic Canadian homeowners whose residential home insurance policies didn't cover all the damages.
Experts said the hurricane highlighted gaps in home insurance, which don't normally cover damages from storm surges such as the ones caused by Fiona.
The new flood insurance program would consider damage caused by storm surges as well as riverfront flooding and urban overland flooding, said Power.
She said Canada joins the U.K., U.S. and many other G7 countries in announcing such a program.
"IBC looks forward to working in close collaboration with the federal government and the provinces and territories to establish the country's first national flood insurance program within the next 24 months," said Power.
The federal budget states that the unique realities of natural disasters make them difficult to insure. It proposes funding starting in 2023-24 to Public Safety Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to work with the Department of Finance on the program.
The program would include offering reinsurance through a Crown corporation and a separate insurance subsidy program.
The budget also proposes $15.3 million over three years for Public Safety Canada to create an online portal where Canadians can find out their exposure to flooding, as the increasing risks posed by climate change mean many many not be aware of the risks their home faces.
It also proposes more than $50 million to Public Safety Canada to identify areas at a high risk for flooding and implement a modernized Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program, the program that covers the vast majority of provincial and territorial costs after a disaster.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Nearly 1,000 wildfires have burned across Canada so far this year. Here's an overview of the situation in Canada.
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
Captain John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime and saved his teammates some embarrassment as Canada held on for a 6-5 win over Austria on Tuesday at the world hockey championship.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.