Incidents per 100,000
Police-reported breaking-and-entering incidents in Canada in 2024.
A practical guide to understanding household risks, improving awareness and preparing for the unexpected. Explore the decisions that can help protect your home, your family and your financial well-being.
The Canadian Home Protection Report™ 2026 is an educational consumer publication designed to help Canadian homeowners understand several risks that may affect their homes, including property crime, residential fire, water intrusion, carbon monoxide and freezing temperatures. It is intended to support better questions, stronger household planning and more informed conversations with insurers, safety authorities and qualified service providers.
Security, detection, monitoring and notification systems cannot prevent every loss or guarantee that an emergency will be detected, reported or resolved. Equipment performance can depend on installation, placement, maintenance, communication availability, power, environmental conditions, user behaviour and the nature of an incident.
Insurance coverage, deductibles, exclusions, endorsements, pricing and eligibility vary by insurer and policy. Readers should consult their licensed insurance representative and rely on their actual policy wording.
Health and life-safety information in this report does not replace instructions from emergency services, public-health authorities, fire officials, manufacturers or licensed professionals. In an emergency, follow official directions and call 9-1-1 where appropriate.
This report uses authoritative Canadian sources wherever possible, distinguishes source years, states important limitations and avoids unsupported national averages. Illustrative scenarios are clearly labelled and are not represented as AlarmTek customer incidents.
A look at selected Canadian figures that provide context for home safety, property protection and recovery planning.
Police-reported breaking-and-entering incidents in Canada in 2024.
Approximately 300 deaths and 200 hospitalizations annually, according to the Government of Canada.
Severe-weather insured damage exceeded $2.4 billion in 2025.
Residential building construction costs, as reported by IBC in May 2024.
Source years and measurement types differ. These figures are not directly comparable and do not predict the exposure of an individual household. Verify each statistic against its cited original source before publication.
These figures provide national context for the practical theme of this report: good protection combines maintenance, prevention, detection, awareness, emergency planning, appropriate insurance and a realistic response process.
Use these questions to identify where your household may benefit from better preparation.
What risks are relevant to my property, household and location?
Where could a problem develop or remain unnoticed?
What reasonable steps could improve our readiness and response?
Practical information to help guide conversations, inspections and household decisions.
| Fact | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Property crime remains relevant | Statistics Canada reported 293 police-reported breaking-and-entering incidents per 100,000 population in 2024, an 11% decrease from 2023. The figure includes more than residential incidents and captures crimes reported to police. |
| Carbon monoxide cannot be sensed | Health Canada states that CO has no smell, taste or colour and can only be detected with a carbon monoxide alarm. The Government of Canada estimates roughly 300 deaths and 200 hospitalizations annually. |
| Flood risk deserves specific attention | The Government of Canada identifies floods as Canada's most common and costly natural hazard, states that flooding accounts for about half of home insurance claims and reports an average flooded-basement repair cost above $40,000. |
| Repair costs have risen | IBC reported in May 2024 that residential building construction costs had risen 61% since January 2019 and estimated home replacement costs had risen 23%. |
| Protection works in layers | No single camera, alarm, detector, insurance policy or maintenance practice addresses every risk. Readiness is strongest when multiple measures work together. |
Take the home protection assessment to review key areas of household readiness and identify practical next steps for your property.
Complete the checklist online. Your information will not be saved. When finished, you can download a completed copy, download a blank copy or print either version for your records.
Start the assessmentDesigned for personal planning. Not a guarantee of protection or insurance eligibility.
Practical resources to help you understand risks, review household preparedness and plan your next steps.
Four weeks. Four priorities. Small, manageable actions to help build a more prepared household.
Explore how weather exposure, reconstruction costs, connected-home dependencies, extended absences and household support needs can affect preparedness.
Understand Canada's reported breaking-and-entering statistics, what the national figures tell us, and why they cannot predict risk for an individual home.
Residential fire is first a life-safety issue. Property recovery matters, but escape, early warning and emergency response come first.
Water losses can originate inside the home or from external flooding. Those are not the same insurance event, and the distinction matters for prevention coverage and recovery.
Carbon monoxide is produced when fuel does not burn completely. Health Canada states that it has no smell, taste or colour and can only be detected with a carbon monoxide alarm.
Canadian winter risk often involves a chain of events: heating or power loss, declining interior temperature, vulnerable plumbing and delayed discovery. The purpose of winter planning is to interrupt that chain where reasonably possible.
Planning should reflect the people, pets and property uses that make each household unique.
Separating reasonable assumptions from evidence-based realities
Insurance policy terms vary. The purpose of this section is not to interpret an individual contract. It is to help readers prepare direct questions for a licensed broker, agent or insurer before a loss occurs.
This is an educational self-assessment, not a professional inspection, code review, insurance assessment,actuarial model, guarantee or certification.
A structured way to review household preparedness, identify unanswered questions and prioritize practical next steps.
This index measures whether common preparedness actions have been considered. It does not predict loss, assess insurance risk, replace an inspection or guarantee safety.
Give one point for each completed item on the Canadian Home Risk Assessment™. Do not award a point where the answer is unknown. Unknown items should be treated as review priorities, not as failures.
| Score | Readiness category | Recommended interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–7 | Foundation needs attention | Several basic actions are incomplete or unknown. Prioritize life-safety alarms, emergency planning, insurance review and access to utility shutoffs. |
| 8–14 | Developing readiness | Important measures exist, but significant gaps remain. Focus on the domains with the most unanswered items. |
| 15–21 | Strong foundation with gaps | The household has addressed many core measures. Validate remaining gaps and confirm maintenance and insurance details. |
| 22–28 | Comprehensive educational readiness | Most educational checklist items are complete. Continue testing, maintenance, annual review and adaptation to household changes. |
Regardless of the total score, treat the following as immediate review items:
A high readiness score does not cancel out a critical safety concern. Address urgent life-safety issues promptly and contact qualified professionals or emergency services when appropriate.
Important: This index is an educational self-review tool. Scores are not a prediction of future loss, a professional inspection result, an insurance underwriting assessment or a guarantee of protection.
Effective home protection combines prevention, awareness, appropriate technology, response planning and recovery preparation. Each layer serves a different purpose, and no single measure addresses every risk.
Reduce avoidable hazards through property maintenance, certified equipment, safe use and correction of known defects.
Use visible, lawful measures that can reduce opportunity, such as lighting, secure access and maintained sightlines.
Use appropriate alarms and sensors to identify smoke, carbon monoxide, unauthorized access, water or abnormal temperature conditions.
Ensure alerts reach the right person and provide enough information to choose a safe next action.
Define who contacts 9-1-1, the insurer, service providers and trusted local contacts. Monitoring may be one response layer but does not guarantee outcome or response time.
Maintain insurance, inventories, records, accommodation planning and contractor information to support recovery.
Prevention, detection, informed decisions, response and recovery complement one another. Review each layer for your property's characteristics, household needs and insurance requirements.
These layers are an educational planning framework, not a guarantee against loss. Follow applicable safety requirements and the instructions of qualified professionals and emergency authorities.
Learn MoreThe cost of a home incident is not limited to the first repair invoice. It can include financial, operational and emotional consequences. This section intentionally avoids inventing national averages where authoritative data is unavailable.
| Impact category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Direct property loss | Building damage, contents, cleanup, restoration and replacement. |
| Coverage gap | Deductibles, exclusions, sublimits, uninsured losses or non-compliance with policy conditions. |
| Temporary disruption | Accommodation, meals, transportation, storage, pet care and altered routines. |
| Time and administration | Police reports, claims, estimates, inventories, identity replacement and contractor coordination. |
| Household wellbeing | Stress, loss of privacy, disrupted sleep and changed confidence in the home. |
| Business interruption | Lost work time, damaged home-office equipment and disruption to a home-based business. |
| Delayed discovery | Greater spread of water, extended cold exposure, prolonged unauthorized access or loss of options to intervene. |
Reported figures should be interpreted within their scope. A specific repair estimate, an insurance claim and a national catastrophe total measure different things.
| Evidence topic | What this report can state |
|---|---|
| Flooded basement repairs | The federal government reports that repairing a flooded basement costs more than $40,000 on average. |
| Residential break-ins | No authoritative current national average for the complete homeowner cost of a residential break-in was identified for this report. |
| Residential fire claims | A sufficiently authoritative and comparable national average residential fire claim figure was not confirmed for this report. |
| National catastrophic losses | National catastrophic-loss totals provide broader context but do not predict the amount an individual household may lose. |
Editorial note: Verify the federal basement-repair figure against its original source and retain the source, publication date and applicable context before publishing this report.
Homeowners do not prepare because every event is likely. They prepare because a few practical actions can improve options, clarity and recovery when an unexpected event occurs.
Costs and consequences vary by property, event severity, response time, location, insurance policy and household circumstances. Examples are illustrative and are not estimates of the likely cost of an incident.
The numbers behind preparedness
Selected Canadian figures provide context for common household risks, property losses and changing repair costs. Each statistic should be interpreted within its stated scope and reporting period.
| Topic | Approved claim | Scope / source year |
|---|---|---|
|
Breaking and entering
|
293 police-reported incidents per 100,000 population in
2024; down 11% from 2023. This figure is not residential-only.
|
Source
Statistics Canada, 2025 release covering 2024.
|
|
Carbon monoxide
|
Estimated 300 deaths and 200 hospitalizations annually.
|
Source
Government of Canada, updated 2023.
|
|
Severe weather
|
More than $2.4 billion in insured damage in 2025.
|
Source
Insurance Bureau of Canada, January 20, 2026.
|
|
Decade comparison
|
$37 billion in insured catastrophic weather and wildfire
losses from 2016–2025, compared with $14 billion from
2006–2015, adjusted for inflation.
|
Source
Insurance Bureau of Canada, January 20, 2026.
|
|
Construction costs
|
Residential building construction costs had risen 61%
since January 2019; estimated home replacement costs had
risen 23%, as reported in May 2024.
|
Source
Insurance Bureau of Canada, May 9, 2024.
|
|
Flooded basement
|
Average repair costs reported as more than $40,000;
flooding described as accounting for about half of home
insurance claims.
|
Source
Government of Canada overland flood insurance guidance, 2026.
|
|
Residential fire
|
Nearly 30 residential fires per day on average in 2021
and 156 fatalities in participating jurisdictions.
|
Source
Statistics Canada National Fire Information Database (NFID).
Limited to cited jurisdictions.
|
How to read these figures: These statistics describe different measures, periods and populations. They should not be treated as directly comparable or as predictions of an individual home's risk, insurance coverage or potential loss. Confirm each claim against its original source before publication.
Transparency & evidence
This report prioritizes federal government, Statistics Canada, public-health, fire-authority and Insurance Bureau of Canada sources.Commercial sources were not used for central statistics where a stronger authoritative source was available. Claims were restricted to wording directly supported by the referenced source. Where a national average could not be verified, the report states the limitation rather than substituting a weaker number.
Preferred sources for factual claims and reported statistics.
How statistics, limitations and recommendations are presented.
Understanding the evidence
National statistics and published research help explain broad patterns of home-related risk. They also have important boundaries. Understanding these limitations helps readers interpret the information responsibly and avoid drawing conclusions that the evidence cannot support.
Sources & attribution
The following publications and resources inform the statistics, safety guidance and insurance context presented in the Canadian Home Protection Report™ 2026. Refer to the original sources for definitions, reporting periods, methodology and the latest updates.
View All ReferencesActionable tools for annual use, quoting support and household planning. Turn the information in this report into practical records, informed questions and repeatable home protection habits.
The scorecard translates the 28-item readiness assessment int four recognition levels. It is not an actuarial score, insurance rating, inspection result or guarantee. Its purpose is to help a household recognize progress and identify the next reasonable actions.
A month-by-month maintenance and preparedness rhythm A month-by-month plan for keeping household safety, maintenance, emergency readiness and insurance documentation on track. Check off actions as they are completed and record notes, repairs and follow-up dates in each month's space.
Practical errors that can increase vulnerability, delay awareness or complicate recovery
Organize information before a loss and keep a disciplined record after one
A neutral guide to purpose, limitations and responsible use
A product-neutral discovery tool for homeowners and advisors