Resource: $74M in Insured Losses Masks the True Cost of Flooding in the Lower Fraser

$74M in Insured Losses Masks the True Cost of Flooding in the Lower Fraser

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s announcement that the December 2025 atmospheric river, the third in 4 years in the Lower Mainland, caused $74 million in insured losses, is a sobering reminder that flood risk in the Lower Fraser is not a future problem, but a recurring reality. But insured losses tell only part of the story. We still do not know the cost of uninsured losses, which are usually three times the cost of insured losses. Uninsured losses include damage to homes without coverage, farm infrastructure, small businesses, and the long-term economic and social costs borne by communities. 

“These losses are not an anomaly,” said Tyrone McNeil, with the Lower Fraser Floodplains Coalition, “They reflect a flood management system that has not kept pace with climate risk and changing land use. If governments continue to focus on repairing damage rather than reducing risk, communities, ecosystems, and the economy will keep paying the price.”

This moment underscores the urgent need for the Province of British Columbia to fully fund and implement the BC Flood Strategy, with a focus on long-term risk reduction rather than short-term repair. We want to see the Province ensure flood hazard guidance is updated and implemented in land use regulation and decision-making, require natural defense solutions and fish-friendly passage for all flood structures, commit to getting people out of harm’s way and work with local governments and First Nations to unlock federal funding for projects that will safeguard our communities and ecosystems. All this is needed because traditional “grey” flood control infrastructure, such as higher dikes, bigger pumps, and concrete channels, has not kept pace with climate-driven flood risk and, in many cases, has made flooding worse by disconnecting rivers from their floodplains and extreme rainfall events destabilizing slopes, causing landslides.

Flood resilience in the Lower Fraser must include nature-based and integrated floodplain management solutions, such as setback dikes, restored and constructed wetlands, floodplain reconnection, and—where necessary—strategic relocation to ensure people and critical infrastructure are moved out of harm’s way. These approaches reduce flood risk while delivering co-benefits for ecosystems, climate adaptation, and community well-being.

The floodplains of the Lower Mainland are not marginal lands. They are strategically vital to Canada’s economy and food security, supporting one of the country’s most productive agricultural regions, major transportation corridors, and nationally significant trade infrastructure. They are also critical fish and wildlife habitat, sustaining salmon populations that are foundational to First Nations rights, coastal economies, and the health of the Fraser River watershed. Protecting these lands means safeguarding assets Canada depends on. 

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The Lower Fraser Floodplains Coalition is a First Nations-led network of organizations, technical experts, and advocates working to advance integrated, fish-friendly, and climate-resilient floodplain management in the Lower Fraser of B.C. We are calling on all levels of government to treat flood resilience as the nation-building challenge it is, and to invest in solutions that protect people, ecosystems, and the economy for the long term.