Wawanesa Insurance Announces Wildfire Prevention Grant Recipients

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (Wawanesa) today announced the 12 recipients of their second annual Community Wildfire Prevention Grants, which were developed in partnership with FireSmart^TM Canada and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). Wawanesa will award $150,000 to communities this year.

"Supporting community wildfire prevention helps build a safer, more sustainable future for us all," said Anna McCrindell, Wawanesa's SVP & Chief Operating Officer, East. "Last summer's wildfire season was the worst on record for Canada, and the need to prepare communities is more apparent than ever. Wawanesa is honoured to support the efforts of these communities, and will continuing to help Canadians reduce their wildfire risk."

This year's grant recipients are from communities across Canada, including Indigenous communities, rural municipalities, towns, residents' associations, and local fire departments. The grants will go toward a range of wildfire prevention activities, such as creating wildfire buffer zones around homes, home assessments with sprinkler kit incentives, public education, community wildfire protection plans, and more. For a complete list of recipient communities and their projects, please visit the Wildfire Prevention website here.

"Initiatives like the Wawanesa Community Wildfire Grants are important mechanisms to support the public education of FireSmart^TM programs," said Chuck Pedersen, Fire Chief, Township of Douro-Dummer, Ontario. "We are very grateful that our project was selected, and we're confident that it will create discussion and action in our community to reduce wildfires and mitigate potential property loss from wildfire."         

"Wawanesa's Community Wildfire Prevention Grants play a key role in fostering community resilience and empowering residents to take actions that mitigate their wildland fire risks," said Lisa Walker, Director of Resiliency and Partnerships with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. "The FireSmart Canada program is dedicated to supporting this type of collaborative effort to build strong and resilient communities from coast to coast to coast."

The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction is also pleased to have again been asked to work with Wawanesa on this important initiative.

"2023 saw communities across the country impacted by a record number of large fires, wildfire smoke, and close to $1 billion in wildfire insurance claims were recorded. Wawanesa's Community Wildfire Prevention Grants Program reinforces the key message that more wildfires don't have to translate into more loss of communities. We applaud Wawanesa for their leadership in this area," said Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, ICLR.

About The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company 
The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, founded in 1896, is one of Canada's largest mutual insurers, with over $3.5 billion in annual revenue and assets of $10 billion. Wawanesa Mutual, with its National Headquarters in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance products and services throughout Canada, and Western Financial Group, which distributes personal and business insurance across Canada. Wawanesa proudly serves more than 1.7 million members in Canada. The company actively gives back to organizations that strengthen communities, donating more than $3.5 million annually to charitable organizations, including over $2 million annually in support of people on the front lines of climate change. Learn more at wawanesa.com

About The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR)
Canada's leading disaster research institute, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), was established by the insurance industry in 1997 as an independent, not-for-profit research and outreach institute to champion disaster resilience in Canada. ICLR is an international centre of excellence affiliated with Western University. The Institute develops and champions evidence-based disaster safety solutions that can be implemented by homeowners, businesses and governments to enhance their disaster resilience. Visit www.iclr.org for more information.

About FireSmart^TM Canada
FireSmart^TM Canada was founded over 30 years ago to address common concerns about wildfire in the wildland urban interface. Since then, FireSmart Canada has led the development of resources and programs designed to empower the public and increase neighbourhood resilience to wildfire across Canada. FireSmart Canada operates under a mandate from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and is supported by federal, provincial and territorial wildland fire management agencies and partners with municipal governments and the private sector. Firesmart, Intelli-feu and other associated marks are trademarks of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. For more information, visit firesmartcanada.ca

For more information:
Brad Hartle
Manager, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
Phone: 1-844-946-6282
[email protected]