Whereas the Province of British Columbia through the Emergency and Disaster Management Act EDMA, is undertaking significant reforms that include updated emergency management planning, risk assessment protocols, and the implementation of the forthcoming Provincial Disaster and Climate Risk and Resilience Assessment DCRRA; And whereas these new risk assessments, while important for public safety and resilience, may result in unintended consequences for BC homeowners, including increased insurance premiums, loss of insurance coverage, andor the inability to secure mortgage financing due to regionally applied risk levels that may not reflect mitigation efforts or geographic specific realities: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Province of British Columbia to work proactively with the insurance and mortgage lending industries to ensure that the implementation of the Emergency and Disaster Management Act regulations, including the Provincial Disaster and Climate Risk and Resilience Assessment, does not negatively affect homeowners access to property insurance or mortgage financing; And be it further resolved that the Province establish protective policy measures and legislative safeguards that ensure fair treatment of homeowners, particularly in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities where regional risk assessments may not be indicative of individual subsections.
Ministry of Finance Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness The British Columbia Disaster and Climate Risk and Resilience Assessment DCRRA provides province-wide information and data to help experts better understand how different hazard scenarios could affect people and communities. This resource gives local governments, First Nations, emergency-management specialists and provincial ministries access to risk information that can help them make better decisions in disaster preparedness and mitigation. Personal and community disaster preparedness and mitigation can reduce the extent of losses when disasters happen, which can help keep insurance products affordable. The insurance industry already takes hazard data into account when setting premiums using many sources of information, including their own proprietary models. Our expectation is that the provincial risk assessment will have little impact on property value or peoples ability to buy insurance. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for provincial requirements for insurers and mortgage services professionals, including under the Financial Institutions Act for insurers, the Insurance Act for insurance contracts, and the Mortgage Brokers Act for mortgage services professionals. In addition, under the Financial Institutions Act and Credit Union Incorporation Act, the Ministry of Finance regulates provincially regulated credit unions, which offer financial services and products including mortgages to their members. This framework contains strong legal protections that require BC residents to be treated fairly when obtaining financial services. The provincial frameworks do not mandate business decisions of insurers, mortgage services professionals or lenders on matters such as to whom or under what terms lenders provide financing or how insurers price their policies. The Ministry of Finance will continue to work with the BC Financial Services Authority in its role as the provincial regulator of insurers and mortgage services professionals, and with industry associations, to monitor the market and mitigate potential concerns. Government must be cautious when undertaking any significant intervention in the insurance and mortgage markets, as any action can distort the markets and create unintended consequences, such as insurers or lenders leaving the market, leading to further increases in cost and decrease of options.