More than half of Canadians say climate change is impacting where they decide to purchase a home, according to a new poll.
To safeguard those homes, the report concluded that Canada needs to ramp up its investment in green, grey and brown infrastructure to the tune of billions of dollars annually. Flooding Canada's costliest climate-driven disaster Between six and 10 per cent of Canadian homes are already uninsurable for flood risk, notes the report. And as Canadians continue to build on floodplains, that number will only grow, said Bakos.
Selling a home is inevitably more difficult too. According to one study from the Intact Centre, between 2009 and 2020, Canadian communities hit by catastrophic floods suffered significant market fallout over the following six months, including an 8.2 per cent reduction in the average sold prices of homes and a 44.3 per cent decrease in listings. Homes in these communities also spent 19.8 per cent more time on the market than in other communities.
The Canadian federal government is developing its first National Adaptation Strategy, a blueprint for society to weather the fallout from climate change. It's expected to be released later this year. One 2016 survey from the IBC showed that roughly 45 per cent of Canadian homeowners have insurance that will pay for flood damage, when in fact, only 10 to 15 per cent are covered.Flood insurance premiums projected to soar 7-fold without new federal help In B.C., the number of homes at risk of storm surge is projected to climb 44 per cent by the end of the century to nearly 70,000. That's more than any other province in the country.