ICLR launches new, ‘democratized’ platform for Canadian natural hazard data

When it comes to natural catastrophe hazard maps, Canada is not exactly known to be data-rich.

Catview, a new, centralized source of natural hazard data for Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry, is designed to fill that gap.

Glenn McGillivray, managing director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) — the research arm of Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry — spoke to Canadian Underwriter recently about the origins and development of Catview, a free resource that officially launched in February.

“It just became obvious over the years that our member insurers were hungry for data,” McGillivray tells CU. “I once heard someone describe Canada as a ‘Third World country for data.’ We don’t have the kinds of data that you see in the US, for example.

“The Government of Canada does some great stuff, but it’s all over the place. You have to know where to find it. It’s difficult to find, it’s difficult to download, and some companies don’t have even the ability to do anything with it once they get it….

“Data is king. And we always try to make things simpler for people; in this instance, by collecting hazard data and making it available in one place.”

CatView is a new, Google Maps-based geographic information system (GIS) platform that presents underwriting-grade, natural hazard data in visual maps for users across Canada. It’s designed to be an accessible, centralized resource for critical natural hazard information. Currently, it includes data layers for perils such as earthquakes, extreme wind, hail, wildfire, landslides and other natural hazards.

Catview is designed for insurers, brokers, reinsurers, reinsurance intermediaries, all levels of government, lenders, researchers and others. The online portal will be updated regularly as new data becomes available, ensuring users always have access to the most current information.

The data comes from three sources, McGillivray says.

First, there is information from ICLR, drawing in part from the work of its chief engineer, Keith Porter. Second, the data sets incorporate scientific work done by researchers with whom ICLR consults. And finally, public data sets are now available in an accessible format.  

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McGillivary says he’s been encouraging insurance providers for more than a decade to hire GIS personnel to analyze hazard risks.

GIS is a technology used to capture, manage, analyze and map all types of data, and connect it to a specific location on Earth. One key aspect of GIS is called ‘spatial data integration,’ allowing industry professionals to overlay different data layers — such as roads, buildings and satellite imagery — on top of hazard maps to analyze NatCat risks and exposures.

“The people in this GIS role could be very busy,” McGillivray says. “I just heard a Big 5 [insurer] hired their very first GIS person.”

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How technical is the data? The metrics depend on the hazard.

“Some of it’s pretty technical, such as on the earthquake side, but other stuff is fairly easy to understand,” says McGillivray. “You know where tornadoes have occurred, for example.”

For McGillivray, Catview represents the pinnacle of one and a half years of work to collect and present this Cat-related information in a digestible presentation form. He adds the use of Google-Maps, which is free to users, is an attempt to ‘democratize’ the information.

“I think there are a lot medium- and small-sized [insurance] companies in Canada that can use this sort of data,” he says. “They just don’t have access to really expensive tools, so I think this will be really helpful.”

David Gambrill

David has twice served as Canadian Underwriter’s senior editor, both from 2005 to 2012, and again from 2017 to the present.