Jasper policyholders have just four months to file insurance claims for wildfire damages or initiate legal action against an insurer.

On Tuesday (March 10), after being informed that a blanket extension was not feasible, committee of the whole directed council to continue its advocacy efforts.

“I think we owe it to our community members to relieve them of one additional burden, if we can,” said Mayor Richard Ireland. “I am quite prepared to carry this battle further. I don’t think we should let it go.”

The Alberta Insurance Act sets the statutory limitation date of insurance claims at two years. As per council’s direction, the Municipality asked the Alberta government, through the Minister of Finance and the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), to extend the deadline for claims related to the Jasper wildfire.

“A disaster of the scale of what occurred in Jasper can be quite complex from an insurance perspective, and claims can take quite some time to resolve,” said Michael Fark, Jasper’s Director of Recovery. “In some cases, some claims may remain open beyond the two-year statutory limit.”

The deadline for claims or claim disputes is two years after known losses occur—i.e. July 24, 2026, the two-year anniversary of the wildfire disaster. However this date may vary between policyholders, Fark advised.

While insurers are required to notify policyholders in writing of the statutory limitation period, Fark said a blanket extension would not be possible without amending provincial legislation. The IBC told The Jasper Local a blanket extension would likely be a violation of Canada’s Competition Act.

“Insurers are prohibited from agreeing with each other with respect to claims adjusting practices, whether or not to indemnify a type of claim, or the kind of service to be provided to a customer,” said IBC media relations manager Brett Weltman.

Weltman said some residents have already received a voluntary extension in writing from their insurer. He said insurers review each claim on a case-by-case basis and may provide a voluntary extension in specific situations.

Ireland said he was aware of at least one insurer that has issued an exemption with no requirement that a policyholder had to file a request.

“People are already under significant stress, and it is not impossible for the industry to issue a blanket exemption,” he said.

Following the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in Wood Buffalo, the Alberta Superintendent of Insurance issued a formal notice, advising insurers to consider requests for voluntary extensions in good faith. Fark said the Municipality has requested a similar direction for Jasper and expected the Superintendent to issue this within the coming weeks. IBC confirmed this.

“It is likely [the Alberta Superintendent of Insurance] will issue some type of bulletin, similar to what was done in Fort McMurray,” Weltman said.

Ireland noted how insurers had voluntarily extended the deadline by one year for the 2016 Fort McMurray fire. Fark replied policyholders still had to request an extension in that case.

“The same rights are afforded to Jasper residents as were afforded those in Wood Buffalo,” Fark said.

IBC noted in Fort McMurray extensions were granted on a case by case basis.

Coun. Kathleen Waxer shared the mayor’s concerns, since residents had varying levels of legal literacy, and there was potential for misinterpreting correspondence from insurers.

Coun. Laurie Rodger, who last week wanted to make it clear that households that have not yet closed their claim need to take proactive steps ahead of the two year deadline, asked if the Municipality should directly contact the insurance companies.

CAO Bill Given advised council to stick with political advocacy. Given said the MOJ should be “very cautious” about inserting itself in a relationship between a policyholder and insurer.

“That seems to start to increase risk to the municipality,” Given said.

Fark added that the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre (JRCC) did not have an exhaustive list of every insurance company with one or more policyholders in Jasper, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada was the organization best equipped to contact all the insurers.

The Municipality is strongly encouraging policyholders to review the status of their insurance claim and confirm the deadline with their insurer. If there is a chance their claim may not be resolved before then, they should request a voluntary extension in writing at least one month prior to the deadline. Any extension granted by the insurer should be provided in writing.

If policyholders wish to dispute a claim but were not granted an extension, they should file a statement of claim with the courts before the deadline.

The IBC said that some claims might only need a few months extension, while others might require a full year extension or more.

“Details about the two-year limitation are commonly shared by the insurer to the policyholder as we approach July 2026. Communication on this topic has started already with some residents,” Weltman said.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com

With files from Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com