Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Équité Association’s H1 2025 Auto Theft Trend Report Toronto, ON (July 28, 2025) – Équité Association, the national authority on insurance crime and fraud prevention, has released its First Half of 2025 Auto Theft Trend Report, revealing a 19.1% national decrease in the theft of private passenger vehicles compared to the same period in 2024. “Canada is a safer place today than it was at the height of the auto theft crisis,” says Terri O’Brien, President and Chief Executive Officer of Équité Association. “Auto theft returning to pre-crisis levels demonstrates the effectiveness of Équité’s unified voice on behalf of our members. Led by Public Safety Canada, with solution-focused recommendations from Équité, the National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft has been instrumental in implementing comprehensive strategies to protect Canadians from the organized crime behind the auto theft crisis. Minimizing the impact of auto theft on honest, hardworking Canadians was a key goal of the insurance industry, and the report data shows we are making meaningful progress towards that goal.” The report notes significant decreases in Ontario (-25.9%) and Quebec (-22.2%), provinces that previously experienced the highest auto theft rates from 2021-2023. # of Private Passenger Vehicles Stolen in First Half...

By Limor Kessem, X-Force Cyber Crisis Management Global Lead, IBM — The cyber landscape has changed dramatically with the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. In the frenzied race to harness the potential of AI, organizations often find themselves up against the clock, eager to deploy AI without first assessing their foundational cybersecurity measures. This creates a dangerous parallel: while businesses scramble to adopt AI for competitive advantage, cybercriminals are just as rapidly incorporating these technologies into their attack arsenals. It’s not all bad news. For the first time in five years, global data breach costs have declined. IBM’s newly released 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report found that average global costs dropped to USD 4.44 million—down from USD 4.88 million, or 9%, in the year prior. The catalyst? Faster breach containment driven by AI-powered defenses. According to the report, organizations were able to identify and contain a breach within a mean time of 241 days, the lowest it’s been in nine years. Yet this progress comes with a caveat: the very speed of AI and automation deployment that’s helping organizations defend better is also creating new risks. This phenomenon of AI adoption outpacing oversight can lead to significant security...

AI Can Help Businesses Save Millions and Protect Consumer Data Canadian businesses are losing CA$6.98 million on average to data breaches, with impacts trickling down to consumers. Shadow AI is driving up risks, adding CA$308,000 per breach for Canadian businesses and increasing the likelihood of sensitive data exposure. Adopting security AI and automation extensively reduced breach costs to CA$5.19 million, compared to CA$8.53 million for those organizations not using these technologies Markham, ON (July 30, 2025) – Data breaches in Canada are becoming more costly and complex, with organizations paying an average of CA$6.98 million per breach in 2025, according to the latest IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, which reveals AI adoption is greatly outpacing AI security and governance. This represents a 10.4% increase from CA$6.32 million in 2024, reflecting the growing financial impact of security incidents. Among the report’s findings is the rise of unsanctioned AI–  known as Shadow AI – which amplify risks, escalate costs, and expose sensitive consumer data. Often introduced by employees using unapproved AI systems, shadow AI creates vulnerabilities and compliance issues for businesses. While the overall number of organizations experiencing an AI-related breach is a small representation of the researched population, this is the first time security, governance and access controls for AI have...

Permitting delays slow rebuilding one year after wildfire Edmonton, AB (July 25, 2025) – Insured losses from the Jasper wildfire are now estimated to be close to $1.3 billion, according to new data released by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. This is an increase of $80 million over the six-month estimate from CatIQ in January. “One year after the second-costliest fire event in Canadian history, many residents are still working through the process of securing the proper permits to begin reconstruction of their property,” said Aaron Sutherland, Vice-President, Pacific and Western, Insurance Bureau of Canada. “Despite delays, residents can rest assured that insurers will stand with them until every claim is closed.” The July 24, 2024, wildfire destroyed 358 homes and businesses in the town of Jasper. Today, only 56 (15%) are approved for reconstruction, and only two buildings are currently being rebuilt. “The federal government recently announced that it would be expediting efforts moving forward and providing up to $5 million in additional support to cover the unexpected cost of soil testing and removal. This is a positive move and one that hopefully bolsters reconstruction efforts to begin in earnest,” said Sutherland. “There’s still a lot of work to do...