Update on March ice storm in Ontario

Insurers are still busy handling claims arising from an ice storm in March that passed through central and eastern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, knocking out power for days and causing states of emergency to be declared in multiple areas.

In Ontario, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) announced on Apr. 16 temporary measures allowing adjusters to process the claims more quickly. Its temporary measures will allow licensed adjusting firms to use claims adjusters with licences outside of Ontario. Also, provincial insurers will also be allowed to use the services of employees of affiliated insurers. The measures will remain in effect until July 4.

“FSRA wants to ensure that consumers’ claims are adjusted and processed as quickly as possible,” the province’s financial regulator says.

Cat expectations

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) said last week insured damage estimates from the ice storm are “expected to be released in the coming weeks.”

The day after the storm, industry sources told Canadian Underwriter it was expected to be declared a Cat (more than $30 million in insured losses). Caroline Floyd, a director at Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), said storm damage in March resembled damage caused by an April 2018 storm in southwestern Ontario and Quebec that cost about $250 million in insured losses (unadjusted for inflation).

The March 2025 storm caused widespread power outages, affecting more than 400,000 Hydro One customers. Heavy ice accumulations snapped tree branches, causing them to strike and break power lines. The Weather Network reported Peterborough and Trenton, Ont., endured more than 30 hours of freezing rain.

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Christine Segaric, director of Cat response at ClaimsPro, tells CU this week the adjusting firm received close to 1,500 claim files, with severity ranging from minor residential freezer losses around $1,000 to high-value commercial claims reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The adjusting firm received a blend of personal and commercial losses. The majority of residential claims involved sump pump failures, flooding, and damage from fallen trees and storm debris, Segaric says. On the commercial side, losses ranged from golf courses, campgrounds, business interruption and significant stock damage due to extended power outages.

For CRU Group, they received “claim assignments across the Muskoka and Kawartha regions, many involving downed trees, ice-related property damage, and losses from extended power outages,” the adjusting firm’s CEO David Repinski says.

“While this event initially appeared to have the potential for significant impact, it has prompted a more moderate response to date,” Repinski says. “We do anticipate a potential increase in reported claims as seasonal cottage owners return and begin assessing their properties.”

Potential second wave of claims

Compounding the situation, the region experienced heavy rainfall in early April, shortly after the ice storm, contributing to the influx of claims. “With many national parks still closed, we anticipate a potential second wave of claims once roads are cleared and insureds are able to access their trailers,” Segaric says.

She says the storm was unique for a couple of reasons. First, several regions across Ontario were affected, with some of them quite rural. Second, the extended power outages created a high level of uncertainty, as some areas were difficult to access because of the conditions and loss of power. “Once power was restored and temperatures began to rise, the full extent of damages became more visible.”

For CRU Group, what set the storm apart was how localized and short-lived it was.

“It was not widespread, and did not have the severity typical of large-scale Cat events,” Repinski says. “This resulted in more of a strategic resource allocation rather than a full-scale deployment.

“That said, we were pleased to see how quickly [FSRA] enabled out-of-province adjuster support, which is a positive step that will be crucial in future, more demanding events.”

Segaric says one of the more unique challenges with this Cat event is the widespread geographical impact. ClaimsPro’s 1,500 claims were spread out over more than 320 loss locations, which made coordination of Cat adjusters more complex, Segaric says.

“Unlike past events, where claims arrive in large waves, this event saw claims trickling in gradually,” she says. “As a result, we were constantly reassessing claim volumes and strategically redeploying Cat adjusters to other areas.”

Jason Contant

Jason has been an award-winning journalist with Canadian Underwriter for more than a decade, including the past three years as associate editor and, before that, as digital editor for seven years.