TORONTO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Canada recorded insured

losses of C$8.5 billion ($5.90 billion) in 2024, the largest

annual sum ever recorded, following wildfires in Jasper, a

hailstorm in Calgary and flooding in major cities, data from the

Insurance Bureau of Canada released on Monday showed.

CatIQ, Canada's insured loss and exposure indices provider,

said four catastrophic events in just 27 days in 2024 exceeded

C$7.5 billion in insured losses.

The wildfires in Jasper last summer forced some 25,000

people to evacuate the picturesque tourist town and its

surroundings in Canada's Rocky Mountains.

Just days after, severe thunderstorms over southern Alberta

led to damaging hail, strong winds, heavy rain and localized

flooding in parts of Calgary.

The hailstorm in Alberta was the second costliest event ever

recorded in Canada, causing about C$3 billion in insured losses

in just over an hour.

The annual tally shattered the previous record of C$6

billion from 2016, following the Fort McMurray wildfires -

Canada's costliest event ever.

The 2024 total is nearly triple the total insured losses

recorded in 2023 and 12 times the annual average of C$701

million in the decade between 2001 and 2010, Insurance Bureau of

Canada data showed.

South of the border, losses from the

Los Angeles wildfires

could reach as high as $20 billion, potentially making it

the costliest disaster in California's history, analysts said.

Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is

leading to drier and hotter conditions, driving extreme

wildfires.

CatIQ's CEO Laura Twidle noted that the Canadian insurance

industry has faced back-to-back challenging years, including 24

catastrophic events in 2023.

"There is a clear need for continued collaboration to

address the growing scale and frequency of catastrophe events

across Canada but, more importantly, concerted action to

mitigate the impacts of these events," Twidle said.

($1 = 1.4417 Canadian dollars)