Canada’s clean energy transition is accelerating, but resilience must keep pace.
As the world moves towards a low-carbon economy, renewable energy is no longer a distant ambition. It is the backbone of our collective future. Yet as we embrace this transformation, a critical question emerges: how resilient is the infrastructure powering Canada’s energy future?
Recent climate events suggest the answer is increasingly uncertain. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and intense, threatening all aspects of electricity infrastructure. CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure indices provider, noted that Canada faced an unprecedented $8.5 billion in insured losses in 2024, marking the costliest year for severe weather in the country’s history. This serves as a stark signal of the growing physical risks facing critical infrastructure.
A recent report, Powering Through: Building Climate Resilience into Canada’s Energy Future, developed by Zurich Canada and Zurich Resilience Solutions in collaboration with Sussex Strategy Group, highlights a pressing issue. Without decisive action, clean energy systems will face mounting climate-related threats that could compromise energy security, economic stability, and societal wellbeing. The findings are clear. Resilience is not optional. It is imperative.
The Rising Risk Landscape
The report analysed over 1,000 renewable power generation sites across Canada, leveraging Zurich Resilience Solutions’ proprietary geospatial modelling tool, Climate Spotlight, to assess climate hazards through 2030 and 2050. The results are sobering.
- 40% of Canada’s renewable generation capacity could face a 25% likelihood of a major climate event by 2030 if resilience measures are not implemented.
- Physical climate risks – such as extreme weather, flooding, and temperature volatility – pose significant threats to energy production and storage assets.
- Without adaptation, these risks translate into operational disruptions, financial losses, and reduced insurability.
This is not just a Canadian challenge. It is a global wake-up call. As renewable energy becomes central to the energy mix, the resilience of infrastructure must match the ambition of the transition.
Why Resilience Matters
The energy transition is more than a technological shift. It is a societal imperative. Businesses, governments, and communities depend on reliable, secure energy systems. Climate-related disruptions could derail progress, jeopardizing both sustainability goals and economic growth.
Resilience is the bridge between ambition and reality. It ensures that renewable infrastructure can withstand shocks, adapt to evolving risks, and continue delivering value over decades. It is also a critical enabler of investment. Assets that are resilient are insurable, bankable, and attractive to capital markets.
Key Recommendations for Action
Zurich’s Powering Through-report calls for a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to embed resilience into the energy ecosystem. Here are five priority actions.
- Strengthen Existing Assets
Risk preparedness is the first line of defence. Owners and operators must assess vulnerabilities and implement measures to help reduce exposure to physical climate risks. This not only helps mitigate potential losses but also enhance insurability.
- Adopt Climate Stress Testing
Futureproofing begins with foresight. Climate stress testing should be integral to the design and development of new generation and storage assets. Modelling future hazards enables informed decisions and resilient infrastructure planning.
- Embed Resilience in Policy and Design
A stable, predictable policy environment that prioritizes resilience will accelerate investment and innovation. Governments and regulators play a pivotal role in setting standards that make resilience a non-negotiable principle.
- Improve Data Access and Quality
Better data drives better decisions. Enhanced access to public datasets and open-source climate hazard information will refine risk modelling and support industry-wide resilience strategies.
- Unlock Investment in Resilience
Resilience is not a cost – it is an investment. Prioritizing resilience measures can help secure insurability, attract funding, and safeguard long-term returns.
The Business Case for Resilience
The energy transition is a critical imperative for business, the economy, and society. While renewables are essential to this shift, they are not immune to risk. Building resilience is about more than protecting assets – it is about enabling progress.
For businesses, resilience reduces operational risk and protects profitability. For insurers, it ensures that coverage remains viable in a changing risk landscape. For investors, it signals stability and long-term value. And for society, it guarantees that the lights stay on – even when the climate throws its worst at us.
