Wildfire Season Is Getting Longer: How to Make Sure Your Alberta Home Insurance Is Ready

Albertans don’t need to be told that wildfires are serious. Fort McMurray in 2016, Jasper in 2024. Evacuation orders, smoke-filled summers, and communities forced to leave with little more than a bag and their pets. For many families, wildfire season has gone from something that happens “up north” to a real and personal concern.

The hard part is that no amount of planning can stop a wildfire. But the right insurance, and a little preparation, can make an enormous difference in how quickly your family recovers.

Does Home Insurance Cover Wildfire Damage?

Yes. Fire, including wildfire, is a standard covered peril under virtually all Alberta home insurance policies. If your home is damaged or destroyed by a wildfire, your policy is designed to help you repair or rebuild, replace your belongings, and cover your costs while you’re displaced.

But how well you recover depends on the details. Here are the ones that matter most:

1. Are you insured for the full cost to rebuild? Your dwelling coverage should reflect what it would cost to rebuild your home today, not what you paid for it or its market value. Construction costs have climbed significantly, and after a large wildfire, demand for contractors and materials can push prices even higher. If your coverage hasn’t been updated in a few years, you may be underinsured.

2. Do you have guaranteed replacement cost? Some policies offer guaranteed or extended replacement cost, which pays to rebuild even if costs exceed your policy limit. This can be incredibly valuable after a regional disaster.

3. How much contents coverage do you have? Most people underestimate what they own. Think about furniture, clothing, electronics, tools, sporting equipment, and everything in the garage and shed.

4. What about bylaw upgrades? If your home was built years ago, rebuilding may require meeting current building codes. Bylaw coverage helps pay for those upgrades.

What Happens If You’re Evacuated?

This is one of the most common questions we hear. If a civil authority orders you to evacuate because of a wildfire, many home policies include coverage for additional living expenses during the evacuation, even if your home is never damaged. This can help with hotel costs, meals, and other extra expenses.

However, evacuation coverage is often limited to a certain number of days, so it’s worth knowing what your specific policy provides before an emergency.

If your home is damaged and can’t be lived in, your additional living expenses coverage helps pay for temporary housing and extra costs until you can move back in or rebuild.

Can You Buy Insurance When a Fire Is Nearby?

Usually not. When a wildfire is burning near a community, insurers typically stop issuing new policies or increasing coverage in that area until the danger has passed. This is why reviewing your coverage before wildfire season, not during it, is so important.

Practical Steps to Prepare Now

1. Create a home inventory. Walk through your home with your phone and record a video of every room, opening closets and drawers. Store it in the cloud.

2. Keep important documents accessible. Store copies of your insurance policy, IDs, and key documents digitally, and keep originals in a grab-and-go bag.

3. FireSmart your property. Clear dry leaves and debris from gutters and around your home, keep firewood away from the house, and trim trees and shrubs close to the structure. FireSmart Canada offers excellent free resources.

4. Know your policy number and your broker’s contact information. In an evacuation, you won’t want to be searching for it.

5. Keep receipts during an evacuation. Hotels, meals, gas, pet boarding — keep everything. It makes your claim much easier.

Let’s Review Your Coverage Together

At InsureLine Empire, we help Alberta homeowners make sure their rebuilding limits, contents coverage, and living expense coverage reflect today’s costs. It’s one of those conversations that takes 15 minutes and could make all the difference. Call us at (780) 761-2200 or reach out online.