With home insurance rates an ongoing point of concern among Greater Sudbury area residents when it comes to the city’s proposed changes to emergency services infrastructure, Sudbury.com dug deep to determine how valid these concerns are
Claim: The city’s proposed changes to emergency services infrastructure will result in higher home insurance rates
Various numbers have been bandied about by residents when it comes to potential impacts to insurance rates, with some people saying the amount they pay will skyrocket. So, what should property owners know about the Fire Underwriters Survey and how the city’s proposed plan will affect how much they pay for home insurance?
“There’s a really rigorous assessment that’s done of the overall level of protection done by each fire station in each fire protection area,” he said, noting they factor in firefighter training, turnout, equipment, apparatus, fire station proximity and other variables. An ideal proximity to a fire station is “adjacent,” but they typically recommend a cut-off of eight kilometres away from a fire station, for one- or two-family dwellings. Some insurers with increased appetite for risk have been known to extend it as far as 13 kilometres. For commercial properties, they recommend nothing farther than five kilometers away from a fire station.
“They’re working with us. ... When we say satellite station, it’s really just a way of getting around the reduction in grading due to not having enough firefighters in that station.” The survey is next expected to be updated in 2026, so it remains to be seen whether these stations will allow area properties to maintain their “protected” status.“We’re working hard at recruitment,” Lawrence said, describing recruitment as their “No. 1” challenge regardless of what becomes of the proposed changes to fire services infrastructure. “We’re looking at everything. Everything is at play. We need volunteers.
“It’s been going on too long, to have three major reports looking for how they can close stations -- that’s basically what it’s been, it’s all been about closing these rural stations.” It’s unclear why the company didn’t already consider the area unprotected, Lawrence said, since low volunteerism has rendered the Beaver Lake station redundant to insurers since 2021.
Ideal fire services a worthwhile investment The number of volunteer firefighters has been dropping across Canada, including a 38.6 per cent drop in Greater Sudbury during the past decade. Dwelling Protection Grades emanate from fire stations. Moving a station five kilometres east will benefit properties at the east and negatively impact those to the west.
“Each insurance company is different,” she added. “There’s a range. ... Not all insurance companies have the same rules, and not all have the same rates.”
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