For mortgage brokers, that gap is not an abstract policy concern. It is a material risk sitting inside clients’ balance sheets, one that is becoming harder to ignore as property insurance costs escalate alongside insured losses that have broken national records two years running.

Insured damage from severe weather in Canada surpassed $2.4 billion in 2025. That’s the tenth-costliest year on record, following a record $8.5 billion in losses in 2024.

Brokers who are not yet factoring climate exposure into conversations about property selection, borrowing capacity and long-term affordability are leaving clients exposed to a risk that is already repricing in real time. 

Cost is the barrier, but information is the deeper problem

Two-thirds of survey respondents cited cost as the primary reason they have not upgraded their home, but nearly half said they would be willing to invest between $1,000 and $5,000 to protect their property from severe weather. 

More striking still is the knowledge gap around government support. More than half of respondents said they were not aware of government programmes or incentives that could help them climate-proof their homes, despite the fact that federal and provincial subsidies exist for exactly that purpose.