ICLR Friday Forum: ICLR's New Canadian catastrophe history (March 13, 2026)

On March 13, 2026 ICLR hosted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'ICLR's New Canadian Catastrophe History & its Place in Broader Practice', led by ICLR's Dr. Keith Porter and including a panel discussion with Laura Twidle and Adam Smith. ICLR quantified the last 43 years of societal catastrophe losses in Canada: monetary and nonmonetary, insured and uninsured. Current losses average $9 billion annually, doubling every 8 years. ICLR's catastrophe history joins a field led by Mr. Smith, Ms. Twidle, and others. After Dr. Porter presented ICLR's new catastrophe history, a panel discussion addressed the broader community of practice: How do the various methods differ? Might harmonization or collaboration offer new value to the people who use these estimates? Dr. Keith Porter is ICLR’s chief engineer. He is a structural engineer specializing in the engineering economics of natural disasters. Adam Smith is a climatologist serving as Senior Climate Impacts Scientist at Climate Central, Inc. He led the US effort to quantify societal catastrophe losses. Laura Twidle was trained as a meteorologist. She serves as President and CEO of Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.