ST. PAUL – County of St. Paul Reeve Glen Ockerman plans to have council and administration propose a resolution to bring forward to the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) and then to the Government of Alberta regarding ongoing concerns about the cost of insurance.
During the Public Works meeting on July 22, when council and administration were discussing the County's second quarter operational update, Ockerman asked for more information about added insurance for community groups renting halls for functions, suggesting the costs are too expensive.
Ockerman said he asked about more details, "So we don't keep killing our small communities with additional insurance."
"It's ridiculous," said the reeve.
Coun. Louis Dechaine agreed, noting that sometimes when people want to rent out a community hall, they have to cough up around $600 in added insurance to host functions like birthdays and funerals.
Resolution
Ockerman, during a follow-up interview, said, "I want to see if we can maybe start developing a resolution to have the province look at it."
The reeve said he plans to have council and administration draft a resolution for the upcoming RMA convention, before engaging the province to find a solution for increasing insurance costs, "before it destroys our communities."
"So that's my next step," he said. "I think if we all work together, we can hopefully do this right and help all communities in the province" that are facing similar challenges, said Ockerman.
Increases
During a separate interview with Dechaine, the Mallaig-area councillor agreed about the idea of bringing forward a resolution to the RMA and to the province.
According to Dechaine, there was a family this year who rented the back of a hall for a week for $150.
"It was just a family function," he said, and to have alcohol at their camper on the grounds, they had to buy a third-party liability insurance for $700.
The councillor added that to also have cannabis, it would cost the renter an additional $350. So, he said, the added insurance costs much more than renting the back of the hall.
Added insurance, like liability insurance, is not new, said Dechaine, but the issue is how the costs are becoming unaffordable.
"Insurance has gone totally ridiculous," he said. "I can rent a room for a birthday party . . . and even if I don't have [alcohol], I'm still [going to] have property liability insurance."
Even organizations are not off the hook for added insurance, added Dechaine. For example, organizations, including non-profits, municipalities, and facilities that are under the County’s insurance policy as Additional Named Insured (ANI), do not have added insurance coverage under their policy.
"So, facilities the County is supporting . . . like in Mallaig for instance . . . between all the [recreational facilities] there . . . their insurance is $108,000 a year," said Dechaine. "They can't fundraise enough to pay insurance and there's another 21 per cent increase coming because we're considered a wildfire area."
On top of that, the County's policy with the RMA also increased by 7.5 per cent.
In 2024, the County's 25 ANIs under the County's policy through the RMA saw increased insurance costs due to a four per cent rise in property values.
Organizations and ANIs located in wildfire areas also got hit with a 10 per cent increase, leading to a total increase of 21.5 per cent increase for those ANIs.
During a December 2024 council meeting, council passed a motion to distribute surcharges to the organizations under its insurance policy, which will cost those groups a total of $32,872 in insurance premiums this year. The County also made a motion to use $10,850 from its reserve fund to help fund the increases in insurance.
Between all those increases, Dechaine said he finds it difficult to justify the increase in added insurance, too. "It used to be a hundred bucks. It doubled this year and it's now [going to be] $700," to pay for added insurance, he said. "Our facilities already have trouble staying open."
Asked if he has an opinion on why added insurance keeps on increasing, Dechaine paused, then laughed. "I don't know."
