OTTAWA – There is no way to enforce building or fire codes on First Nations and pursuing a legislative fix would require significant time and money, federal officials warn in an internal briefing document. But Blaine Wiggins, the senior director…
VICTORIA -She died in the arms of firefighters. The 96-year-old woman now lingers in the memory of Chief Jim Ogloff of the Coquitlam Fire Department, a reminder of the impact of last summer’s heat dome disaster on vulnerable residents of…
By Keith Porter, adjunct research professor, civil and environmental engineering, Western University This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original…
More than 35 years after a deadly tornado in Barrie, Ont. – the site of another strong tornado last year – the industry is still looking for modernizations to the Ontario Building Code and tornado protection construction practices. “Since before…
Enforcing existing building codes, bringing in new construction standards and improving community planning are among the measures governments can take to mitigate the cost of property losses from natural catastrophes, industry watchers say. And arming consumers with better information about…
By Anastasia Athanasiou, Postdoctoral fellow, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site.…
Enhancing building codes to include early detection systems could help generate a faster response in the case of farm fires, said Ken Worsley, who leads Cowan Insurance Group’s national agri-commercial industry practice. Early response systems include things like heat, fire…
The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) want to restore direct insurance industry involvement in the building code process. “At some point in the distant past, perhaps four decades ago or more, the Canadian…
A client occupying a tall wood building could face higher insurance costs, a group of masonry producers claims, while one fire insurer confirms such a building deserves closer scrutiny from an underwriter. Your insurance premiums would be higher as an…
This is Part 2 of the property loss review that began in the Feb-Mar issue of Claims Canada. Carter et al V. Intact Insurance Company, Ontario Court of Appeal, December 6, 2016 On March 16, 2011 a fire caused…
With severe weather expected to get worse in the years ahead, introducing small changes into building codes is critical, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction’s (ICLR) managing director told Canadian Underwriter on Wednesday. “We are not talking about totally revamping…
Risk awareness is severely lacking and not enough attention is being paid to quake risk in eastern Canada, a region with “huge” loss-inflicting potential that a Swiss Re model projects could produce the country’s largest nat-Cat loss ever if the…