True Patriot Love - April 13, 2026


Canada’s Homes Becoming Uninsurable？


Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

188.75682

Word count

2,112

Sentence count

72


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Canada is facing a growing crisis and most people don't even see it coming.
00:00:04.480 As wildfires intensify across the country, entire communities are becoming harder
00:00:08.780 and in some cases impossible to insure.
00:00:12.120 Premiums are skyrocketing, coverage is shrinking,
00:00:14.640 and some insurers are quietly pulling out altogether.
00:00:17.800 So what happens when your home, your biggest investment, can't be protected anymore?
00:00:22.560 Today we break down the wildfire insurance problem in Canada.
00:00:25.140 who's really paying the price and whether this is the beginning of a much bigger housing and
00:00:30.540 financial shock joining me to talk about this brady wedham tpl's very own uh this is a problem
00:00:41.260 i almost think that we saw coming yeah well this has been an ongoing thing since you know before
00:00:47.700 i was even born that wildfires in canada or i think that happens um but they've definitely
00:00:52.360 been out of control over the past like three years but 10 years specifically but three years
00:00:57.520 have been really rough since 2023. That is true. I mean at one point I remember we had a fire
00:01:02.620 burning in the middle of Canada that was the size of Jamaica. The size of Jamaica which is if
00:01:07.560 anybody's ever been to Jamaica it's not a tiny place. No this was a big fire. Yeah. In fact you
00:01:12.680 got some of the stats there. Let's start with that. So for the last five years these are breakdowns
00:01:17.460 of the numbers. Those are just going to be some of the bigger numbers. 8,000 fires per year on
00:01:21.000 average what yeah 8 000 different separate fires on average um historical norm 2.1 million hectares
00:01:28.380 are burned annually which isn't always the worst thing like there's these are some of these these
00:01:34.720 are natural right this is the way that the the forest kind of decompresses itself um but it seems
00:01:39.740 to be out of control 2023 or 2023 is the worst on record we had 6 500 fires 18.5 million hectares
00:01:47.580 burned that's six times normal or more than normal that's incredible it's massive and i think that's
00:01:53.420 when it really came back even south of the border all of us felt that ontario got it
00:01:57.980 uh several provinces were affected by it several of the a lot of american social media is just
00:02:03.420 filled with saying what's going on in canada because my backyard is basically smoked out
00:02:07.420 and fried out yeah yeah so um that was the big one that's the one that made us all take a look
00:02:12.620 at the wildfire situation obviously it's 2023 there was a fire in every single province and
00:02:17.660 territory which means there wasn't a portion of canada didn't have some sort of outbreak that's
00:02:23.020 incredible yeah 2024 5600 fires 5.3 million hectares burned 2025 5 000 fires uh 8.9 million
00:02:32.140 hectares burned so it seems like it doesn't really matter the amount of fires it more amounts about
00:02:37.980 the amount of wind the moisture that year dryness etc etc the current reality is that thousands of
00:02:43.900 fires are still active each season and the burning rate is well above the historical averages if
00:02:49.020 you're looking at this per year so we are headed in a direction where and so therefore not surprising
00:02:55.980 the insurance companies are taking a stance where they're losing money against this you know year
00:03:01.100 over year incrementally and the reports for the past couple weeks uh directly on the news i've
00:03:06.380 I've seen everything from Vancouver.
00:03:08.160 Companies don't want to insure some of these places anymore.
00:03:10.560 Is there misconceptions going on?
00:03:12.020 Because I can't see insurance companies just pulling out of nowhere.
00:03:15.340 You know, it's funny that you say that.
00:03:16.420 I think some of the headlines have been a little bit deceptive.
00:03:19.720 What they're actually doing, here's kind of the real story.
00:03:22.880 They're partnering with Wildfire Defense Services to protect homes.
00:03:27.000 In other words, before you can get insurance,
00:03:28.980 they want to make sure that you have the right fire protection on your property,
00:03:32.520 that it's maintained to a degree that it's not going to get entangled further in the wildfires.
00:03:39.660 And then they're reassessing exposure and avoiding high-risk regions altogether.
00:03:44.740 So the insurance companies are actually assessing this right now.
00:03:48.740 So maybe you don't have the answer for this, but I'll ask you anyway.
00:03:50.840 Well, maybe you do.
00:03:52.780 If I was a young person and I'm going into, let's say, Alberta,
00:03:56.740 right where some of these fires seem to be predominant,
00:03:59.020 and it's my first time buying a house,
00:04:00.560 and I've never had to deal with an insurance company
00:04:02.840 or home insurance before outside of renter's insurance,
00:04:05.300 and I'm going to set up my insurance.
00:04:07.580 Are they actually going to give me insurance
00:04:09.380 if there has been fires in the vicinity?
00:04:12.140 Right now, likely, yes.
00:04:13.360 But what they will also likely do
00:04:15.720 is push you toward a higher deductible
00:04:17.540 because your insurance rates will be higher.
00:04:20.760 And basically, they'll insist
00:04:24.440 that you extend coverage accordingly,
00:04:27.160 which would be more than you might need to pay
00:04:30.040 in a city or in a non-affected region so really what's happening is the insurance industry
00:04:36.920 is compensating and for a problem that is growing uh if we saw an immediate increase
00:04:43.240 in car accidents car insurance would go up and in fact in certain parts of canada they have that is
00:04:49.160 true brampton is a perfect example there are if you live in brampton your insurance is usually one
00:04:55.080 third or one yeah one third higher than it would be if anywhere else in the gta you know what i
00:05:00.320 don't even know what the number is anymore because that it might even be higher than that yeah but
00:05:04.760 depending on what's going on in insurance in a certain area and the response and the problems
00:05:08.880 that insurances had to pay off obviously they're going to compensate for it remember last so last
00:05:15.300 year i think it was the the beginning of the fall we have done we did an episode where we brought up
00:05:20.000 a live map of all
00:05:22.000 the fires going on around Canada
00:05:24.020 at that time and it almost looked like
00:05:26.120 it was a video game like this
00:05:27.980 couldn't possibly, most of the country
00:05:30.000 seemed like it was on fire at some point last year
00:05:32.080 Midsummer was a terrifying
00:05:34.200 map to look at
00:05:35.580 and of course the effects
00:05:38.000 of it we were feeling at the time
00:05:39.720 right to the point where
00:05:41.900 furnaces, air conditioning systems
00:05:44.280 you know
00:05:45.680 mechanics in certain cities
00:05:48.160 required different service suddenly different filters because they were having to deal with
00:05:53.340 this smoke problem that was so immense and of course dealing with those fires we had fire
00:06:00.020 bombers going in uh you know not enough our fire service stretched to its end yeah and now new
00:06:07.040 fire bombers are on the way so goodness to some degree the government is trying to react to this
00:06:12.140 as well well for years they didn't like in 2023 it seemed like we had no answer uh last year it
00:06:17.140 seems like we were putting a plan together it seems like heading into this year we actually
00:06:20.800 have a plan this time well i think that we've also let forestry uh step back a little bit and
00:06:26.780 that has been a huge problem ongoing here in canada that we're not allowing for the right
00:06:33.520 kind of culling the right kind of cleaning in the forest and you know it's so funny because
00:06:37.680 here we stand at the precipice of everybody in the world pointing a finger at donald trump but
00:06:42.840 The one thing he did say was, we need to clean up our forests.
00:06:46.460 We just cleaned them up.
00:06:47.820 We almost made it through an entire episode without that impression.
00:06:51.280 It's not a great impression.
00:06:52.420 I'm so sorry.
00:06:52.920 It's not that I don't like it.
00:06:54.040 I just am surprised that we almost made it through an entire episode with it.
00:06:57.320 Okay, so yes, we have a problem.
00:06:58.840 I don't recall doing it.
00:07:00.020 Maybe I did.
00:07:00.980 I don't recall.
00:07:02.100 We have a problem with wildfires.
00:07:03.520 We've had this issue for a long time.
00:07:05.680 2023 really put it on the radar.
00:07:07.420 It seems like we've brought in more procedures this year that are going to counterbalance this.
00:07:13.040 But the same thing needs to be said each year.
00:07:16.480 If you are camping, make sure your campfire is put out.
00:07:20.680 If you are a smoker, whether that's nicotine, cigars, cannabis, whatever it is, make sure you are not flicking this into the bush.
00:07:28.080 Do not flick it into your backyard.
00:07:30.000 These little teeny tiny steps that we could take as everyday Canadians to stop some of these wildfires getting out of control.
00:07:36.020 Yes, there is an ecosystem inside of the forest.
00:07:38.580 It does its own thing.
00:07:39.860 We don't help.
00:07:41.540 We can't help.
00:07:42.040 I think many of the fires that we're talking about are human problems.
00:07:46.460 And, you know, a lot of them are proven to be that.
00:07:49.620 Of course, you're right.
00:07:50.520 Nature, lightning strikes.
00:07:52.660 It does its thing.
00:07:54.040 It does its thing.
00:07:55.300 But how we handle it when it comes up really will make a difference.
00:07:59.820 And it's funny because industry experts in the insurance business aren't hiding.
00:08:04.400 they're not running away from this increase the media will make you think that they were though
00:08:08.720 because like i said for the past couple weeks i just seen some like every headline i've seen about
00:08:12.960 wildfires is uh we're not going to insure this house anymore this area of vancouver doesn't get
00:08:16.920 insured anymore this area of alberta is not going to be insured anymore sounds like that's not the
00:08:21.840 actual truth well not insured this is not insured at the same rate yeah not insured for the same
00:08:26.520 things and new requirements might be made but even industry experts are saying look this trend could
00:08:33.100 lead to parts of canada becoming effectively uninsurable altogether really absolutely once
00:08:39.820 again like a problem in your driving history that makes it impossible to insure you yeah where you
00:08:46.380 live and proximity to that kind of danger will make a difference in the future to what you're
00:08:52.740 paying and and and it's obviously so so when we take a look at what this problem is i think it
00:08:59.620 does behoove the federal government to make sure for the first time in decades we're actually
00:09:04.060 looking at our forestry from a management perspective and not just let's be growing
00:09:10.440 because what's been left is problematic fires that are costing civilians well and if those
00:09:18.260 problematic fires keep going we're going to end up uh just overpopulating uh pei yeah we'll all
00:09:25.220 just head over there head over there everyone in charlestown i know you've had it really good for
00:09:29.000 the past for however long um there's only been 30,000 to be there but there's going to be a
00:09:33.640 million of us showing up very soon if we don't get this uh taken care of i call anna green gable's
00:09:38.740 house i'm taking that uh what i would love to do is get feedback from the people watching or
00:09:46.980 listening to this right now are your insurance rates going up because of this i'd like to hear
00:09:51.020 from you and what kind of rates you're paying that you didn't expect to pay have you heard from your
00:09:56.060 insurance company we'd like to follow the story so please if you don't mind uh follow along with
00:10:01.140 the comments share it with a friend that you think might be in the same scenario and we would
00:10:05.260 love to talk more about this but for now insurance companies are pulling back on wildfire coverage in
00:10:11.120 areas that are dangerous and just like smoky only you could prevent forest fires i can't believe you
00:10:18.120 did that you're you're bugging me about the trump impersonation thanks we'll catch you next time
00:10:22.980 right here on tpl don't forget to subscribe tell a friend and if you don't mind supporting what we
00:10:27.940 do it keeps the wheels on the cart and every day we're growing thanks to you so we'll see you next
00:10:32.260 time patriotic means looking out for each other and fixing things together true patriotism is
00:10:45.920 being in the country you love surrounded by people you love and great weather being a patriot is
00:10:50.940 being a part of your community and caring for it.
00:10:53.100 It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from,
00:10:55.620 patriotism is the one thing we all share.
00:10:58.320 It's okay to be critical of government
00:11:01.000 and still be a patriot.
00:11:02.600 It's gratitude to your country.
00:11:04.180 Of course I'm a patriot.
00:11:05.460 I'm Canadian, it's my home.
00:11:07.340 Well, actually true patriot love is the mission.