In Alberta’s most hail-prone communities, the question facing the construction industry is becoming increasingly straightforward: are builders constructing homes that insurers are still willing to cover?
Insurance companies are refusing coverage, increasing premiums and raising deductibles in high-risk areas such as Calgary, Alta., located in the province’s so-called Hailstorm Alley, unless new homes and retrofit projects use materials designed to withstand severe hail.
The shift is already being reflected in new construction. Large-volume builder Homes by Avi has announced that it is now installing Class 4 hail-resistant roofing products on newly built single-family detached homes across Alberta.
“I would hope that it would be the first of many and the general trend in the absence of a building code amendment and any city bylaws,” said Aaron Sutherland, vice-president, Pacific and Western, at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). He is calling for hail-resistant materials to become standard across construction.
Hailstorm Alley covers much of southern and central Alberta, with Calgary considered Canada’s hailstorm capital. Communities including Red Deer and Olds are also exposed to significant hail risk.
Sutherland said the IBC has called on provincial and federal governments, as well as municipalities, to introduce incentives for both retrofits and new homes in order to encourage the adoption of hail-resistant construction.
The scale of the damage is considerable.
During the summer of 2024, the Calgary area was struck by a devastating hailstorm that generated more than 130,000 insurance claims and caused over $3 billion in damage.
Over the past five years, Sutherland said, the insurance industry has recorded $6 billion in hail-related claims.
“This is a wake-up call,” he said.
The figures cover damage to a wide range of building components, including siding, doors, windows, solar panels and soffits. However, roofing represents the largest share of the costs.
“The coverage and the premiums are under pressure,” Sutherland said. In areas at particularly high risk, such as Hailstorm Alley, the issue is no longer whether another major hail event will occur, but “when and where.”
With neither provincial building codes nor municipal bylaws currently requiring hail-resistant materials, insurers are approaching the issue cautiously.
Intact Insurance noted on its blog that hail has triggered an industry-wide change in the way properties are insured. A $1,000 hail deductible, once standard in Calgary, has increased to between $2,500 and $5,000. Premiums rose by 15 per cent to 25 per cent in 2026.
“A handful of insurers have gone further, pulling hail out of the base homeowner’s policy and turning it into an optional add-on,” the company’s blog stated.
The blog also said that, after the severe 2024 storm, some homeowners reported being outright non-renewed by insurers unwilling to continue offering policies in the highest-risk postal codes.
Alberta’s insurance regulator has also suggested that deductibles for homes without hail-resilient construction could potentially rise as high as $10,000.
A June 2026 report in Insurance News said the provincial regulator had surveyed 38 residential insurers in Alberta. The findings were presented at the National Insurance Conference of Canada in September 2025 and showed that three carriers had established full coverage blackout zones in the highest-risk areas.
For the roofing industry, the financial consequences are already becoming apparent.
Chelsea Lum, executive director of the Alberta Allied Roofing Association, said that following the 2024 storm, “large deductibles are going to be the norm” as insurers continue to deal with financial pressures.
At the same time, roofing manufacturers offering Class 4 products are gaining greater recognition. Lum pointed to companies such as Malarkey and Euroshield as examples of manufacturers whose hail-resistant products are becoming more prominent as severe storms continue to affect Alberta.
“The solution is how we build,” Sutherland said.
According to Sutherland, some insurers can offer savings of up to 50 per cent on insurance premiums when hail-resistant construction is used.
The construction sector is also beginning to test how these measures can be integrated into new developments.
In late 2025, Avalon Master Builder, working with Aviva Canada, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), began a pilot project aimed at incorporating resilience measures into new multi-family buildings in southern Calgary.
Industry organizations are also working on potential changes to building standards.
“BILD Calgary Region, BILD Alberta and Canadian Home Builders Association National are collaborating at all levels on the building code,” said Amie Blanchette, CEO of BILD Calgary Region.
Blanchette said consumers are increasingly benefiting from a wider selection of innovative products entering the market. Cities such as Calgary are also promoting resource guides that help builders and homeowners identify hail-resistant construction materials.
“There is a shift toward more resilient materials, and it is under review by Codes Canada. We expect it to factor into upcoming building code cycles, ideally with an assessment of regional weather risks,” Blanchette said.
Calgary officials are also monitoring the growing connection between hail damage and insurance costs.
Stacey Rector, the city’s climate resilience and adaptation leader, said Calgary is aware of the increasing concern surrounding hail damage and rising insurance premiums.
In January, the city launched the Hail Resilience Improvement Network (HRIN), a voluntary initiative bringing together contractors, manufacturers, insurers and researchers. The network is designed to facilitate the sharing of innovations, best practices, hail-resilience programs and hail-exposure mapping, helping the construction industry make more informed decisions.
“The hope is that industry will get together and improve resiliency,” Rector said.
Contractors interested in participating in HRIN can contact climateready@calgary.ca.
Meanwhile, demand for hail-resistant products is growing rapidly.
“We’ve seen a 100 per cent demand increase,” said Alan Speidel, territory manager at Malarkey Roofing Products, as more contractors turn to Class 4 roofing products.
Insurance companies are playing a major role in driving that change, Speidel said. He expects Class 4 products will eventually be incorporated into provincial building codes for high-risk areas.
“The insurance rates are going up dramatically,” he said.
For builders, however, the decision is not necessarily simple.
Speidel said the industry is now weighing whether the additional upfront cost of hail-resistant materials in new construction will ultimately deliver savings through lower insurance premiums and reduced damage claims, or whether builders should continue prioritizing lower-cost housing to keep properties affordable and attract buyers.
“It is a conundrum,” he said.
