Calgary hail and roof repair report

Findings at a glance

The table is a selected timeline, not a catalogue of every Calgary hailstorm. Loss estimates come from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. under licence to Insurance Bureau of Canada. Estimates can change as claims develop.

How much damage did the August 2024 Calgary hailstorm cause?

The August 5, 2024 Calgary hailstorm caused an estimated $3.25 billion in insured losses. IBC's February 11, 2025 update describes the event as Canada's second-costliest disaster by insured loss at that time and reports more than 130,000 claims.

IBC reported that auto claims represented more than half of all claims. Insured vehicle damage was estimated at nearly $1 billion, and about half of the damaged vehicles were total losses. Nearly 60,000 homes in the Calgary area were affected.

The storm primarily affected northern Calgary. The loss estimate does not allocate dollars by community, property address or building component. Calgary Reviews does not turn the citywide total into neighbourhood loss estimates.

Homeowners documenting a damaged roof can compare the written scope from more than one provider. The Calgary roofing directory lists local companies and the guide to Calgary roofers explains which quote details to compare.

How does the 2024 storm compare with other recent hailstorms?

The August 2024 loss estimate was about 2.7 times the $1.2 billion insured-loss figure that IBC reports for the June 2020 north Calgary hailstorm. The July 13, 2025 Calgary storm produced an initial insured-loss estimate of nearly $92 million, equal to about 2.8% of the updated August 2024 estimate.

The three figures should not be added into a complete Calgary loss total. They cover selected events, and the estimates were published at different stages of claim development. Inflation is not adjusted.

IBC reported that vehicles represented 65% of claims from the July 2025 storm. The $92 million figure therefore cannot be used as a roof-loss estimate. The same caution applies to the broader home, auto and business totals for 2020 and 2024.

Can building permits show how many Calgary roofs were repaired?

Calgary building permits cannot provide a reliable count of routine residential roof replacements. City guidance says repairing roof materials or replacing roof materials with a similar type does not require a City permit. The City's building permit bulletin gives the same example for re-roofing a single-family home with the same kind of roof covering.

A building permit may be required when replacement material is heavier than the original or when structural work changes the roof. Multi-residential and commercial work can also require permits when structural parts, drainage or roof-mounted equipment are altered.

Building-permit descriptions that contain the word `roof` therefore cover a narrow mix of work. The records can include roof anchors, rooftop telecommunications equipment, pergolas and structural alterations. A simple keyword count would miss most like-for-like residential replacements while including work unrelated to hail repair.

Calgary Reviews does not claim a post-storm roof-permit increase. The Calgary home-service permit atlas reports electrical, plumbing and HVAC permit streams whose City classifications are clearer.

What did Calgary's resilient roofing program record?

The City of Calgary launched its Resilient Roofing Rebate Program after the June 2020 hailstorm. A City climate implementation plan reports that the program helped about 1,600 Calgary homeowners install impact-resistant roofing.

The program offered a $3,000 rebate for eligible Class 4 impact-resistant roofing. The City's January 2022 update reported 513 rebates awarded as of December 15, 2021. A later City program summary gives the broader result of about 1,600 supported homeowners.

The program total is not a count of every impact-resistant roof installed in Calgary. It covers homeowners who met the program rules and received support. It also does not measure the performance of those roofs in the August 2024 or July 2025 storms.

The City's current climate-ready roofing guidance describes Class 4 impact-resistant shingles and other roofing materials. Product class, installation details, insurance terms and the condition of the underlying roof all need separate review before replacement.

What should homeowners record after hail damage?

Calgary homeowners should photograph visible damage from a safe location, note the storm date and keep insurer and contractor correspondence. Roof access after hail can be unsafe, so ground-level and interior photos are more sensible than climbing onto the roof.

An insurer can explain coverage, deductibles and the documentation required before repairs begin. A roofing quote should identify the measured area, material specification, underlayment, flashing, ventilation, disposal, warranty and any allowance for hidden damage. Two quotes with different totals may cover different work.

The City says a similar-material roof replacement generally does not need a building permit, but structural changes and heavier materials can change the requirement. Confirm the current rule for the specific property and scope before work starts.

What this data does not measure

Insured-loss estimates do not measure total economic loss. They exclude uninsured losses and costs outside the policies counted by CatIQ. The figures combine eligible home, auto and business claims and do not isolate roof damage.

Claim counts are not property counts. One household or business can submit more than one claim. IBC's figure of nearly 60,000 affected homes is separate from the more than 130,000 total claims reported for the August 2024 storm.

The published sources do not provide neighbourhood loss totals. The report does not infer community losses from storm-path descriptions, permit addresses or the location of roofing businesses.

The City rebate result describes program participation rather than all resilient roofs. Building permits omit many like-for-like residential roof replacements, so permit records cannot supply a repair count or contractor-demand measure.