The high costs of wildfires in 2023: For homeowners the struggles carry on for months

Hundreds of Canadian households are still experiencing financial and emotional costs this year, after wildfires consumed an area roughly a quarter of the size of Manitoba, and forced about 200,000 from their homes. British Columbia suffered its worst wildfire season on record, with about 400 homes destroyed and more than 2.8 million hectares burned.

Seven months after a wildfire left a charred, 1,000-hectare scar on the western suburbs of Halifax, less visible damage persists in the lives of those who lost their homes to the flames.

Lindsay Law said the financial and emotional costs continue in ways she and her husband, Jacob Haybecker, never imagined before their home was destroyed on the evening of May 28, as thousands of people were evacuated from the area.

The 34-year-old nurse said insurance is paying for the cost of building a new home, but there are gaps in coverage the average Canadian homeowner might not be aware they could face.

"It felt like things were going fine and then we got to the point when we realized there was oil damage in the soil," she recalled in a recent interview.

"We had to pay $10,000 out of our pocket, and we were only given one day to pay this. We were told the amount could triple if we waited a few days because there was a rainstorm coming," she said about the concern oil would leak into the home's foundation.

"That came out of (our) savings. We're just getting going in life, and that was difficult," Law said.

As well, the couple's insurance company factored in the depreciation of their assets in its offer to cover the costs of the lost contents of their home. "We don't think we're being offered even half what we calculate our possessions will cost to replace," she said.