Canadian Regions at Highest Risk of Tornadoes in 2025

Tornado Count More Than Doubles in Canada Over the Last Decade

On May 26, 2025, back-to-back EF1 tornadoes tore through the Lac La Biche region northeast of Edmonton, peeling the roof off a home near Atmore and snapping trees along two narrow damage paths that stretched up to 21 km long. While no injuries were reported, the early-season twisters serve as a vivid reminder that Canada’s tornado threat is intensifying and shifting toward more populated areas.

To better understand the dynamics of tornadoes across Canada, our team at MyChoice, a leading Canadian Insurtech company, conducted an in-depth study to identify which parts of the country face an increased risk of tornadoes in 2025.

To gauge where tornado risk is rising fastest, MyChoice tapped into Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) – Canada’s gold-standard program for detecting, surveying, and cataloguing every twister nationwide. Using the project’s advanced national dashboard, we pulled two equal ten-year slices of data (2005-14 and 2015-24) and:

• tallied every confirmed event by Enhanced Fujita rating (EF0-EF5);
• broke those counts down by province to spotlight regional shifts;
• zeroed in on the EF2-and-stronger subset, which is least sensitive to improvements in tornado detection over time;

Because NTP recently rebuilt the national tornado record, merging legacy Environment Canada files with satellite-verified tracks and adding a new 30-year climatology (1991-2020), the dataset offers a consistent, apples-to-apples view of past and present risk. This structured approach enables us to quantify not only how many more tornadoes Canada now experiences, but also where the most damaging storms are clustering and what that means for homeowners and insurers.

Key Findings from the Study:

• Tornado frequency more than doubled nationwide. Canada now averages 88 tornadoes per year, up from 41 in the prior decade – an overall 114% increase.
• More destructive storms. EF2-plus events increased by 123%, underscoring that the uptick is not just limited to weak landspouts.
• Ontario tops the tornado charts with 347 events from 2015 to 2024 (up from 221 in the prior decade), and its EF2 strikes have almost doubled to 69, meaning damaging, roof-lifting storms are becoming an annual reality.
• Quebec saw the steepest climb, jumping to 206 tornadoes (from 68) as EF2 counts exploded from 11 to 52, a surge that shifts the province firmly into the “significant storm” category.
• Alberta logged 109 tornadoes, up 51 per cent, and while EF2s slipped slightly (12 → 9), the province notched its first EF4 in 2023, signalling a higher ceiling for extreme events.
• Manitoba edged up to 76 tornadoes and boosted its EF2 tally from 6 to 9, plus an additional EF4, showing Prairie supercells remain potent even as totals level off.
• Saskatchewan recorded a slight dip to 125 tornadoes, yet EF2 twisters leapt from 9 to 14, proving a smaller roster can still pack a bigger punch.

Canada’s tornado-alert program is steadily improving, but the gap between a warning and an actual strike can still be razor-thin. Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) has been a catalyst. Its field teams, drone surveys, and satellite forensics have increased confirmed tornado counts and pressured forecasters to act more quickly. Yet, NTP statistics show that even in 2022, only 35% of Canadian tornadoes were preceded by a warning, up from 23% in 2019, but far from ideal. Researchers, such as NTP executive director David Sills, argue that Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) must train forecasters to act sooner and rely more heavily on dual-polarization radar, satellite imagery, and machine-learning models.

Western’s new Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory (CSSL), launched in late 2024 with a $20 million gift from ImpactWX, is designed to close that gap. Housing the Northern Tornadoes, Northern Hail and Northern Mesonet projects under one roof, the CSSL will build the country’s first national downburst, derecho and hail climatologies, roll out a network-of-networks mesonet, and help implement the forthcoming upgrade to the Enhanced Fujita scale. By aligning Canada with the U.S. National Severe Storms Laboratory and Europe’s ESSL, CSSL aims to transform raw storm data into policy-ready insights and next-generation warning tools – essential groundwork as climate change shifts the location of tornado alley north and east.

Home Insurance and Tornadoes

When it comes to tornadoes, most Canadian home insurance policies cover windstorm losses, such as roof and siding repairs, blown-in rain, and debris cleanup. Comprehensive auto coverage also handles hail-damaged vehicles. What catches many homeowners off guard is the wind/hail deductible (often $ 2,500 or more) and rebuild limits that haven’t kept pace with construction costs.

“Tornado damage is covered more often than people think, but only if you’ve got the right limits and you understand your deductible. A 15-minute policy check today can save months of financial stress after the storm,” warns Matthew Roberts, COO of MyChoice.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure you’re prepared:

• Make sure that your policy includes Guaranteed Replacement Cost.
• Check sub-limits for outbuildings and landscaping.
• Maintain an up-to-date digital inventory of your possessions, and be aware that additional living expense coverage can fund hotels if your home is uninhabitable.
• Finally, harden the property by anchoring patio furniture, trimming dead branches, and storing an emergency kit.

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