Not all water damage is caused by heavy rainfall, sewer backups or storm surges. A significant portion of insurance claims stem from leaks in plumbing-connected appliances within buildings. In condominiums, insurers are encouraging condo boards to install water damage detection systems.
The Water Damage Prevention Association of Canada (Prevcan) now counts seven insurance companies among its members. Following Aviva, Desjardins, Intact, Northbridge and Promutuel, Wawanesa joined the organization at the end of 2024, followed more recently by TD Insurance.
“The participation of these insurers represents one of the most important benefits advantages for Prevcan’s installer members and manufacturer members, as these insurers promote our services to their clients and favour those that are PREVCAN-accredited,” stated Gilles Fréchette, outgoing chair of the board of directors, in his message to members ahead of the general meeting held in February 2025.
Jean-Hugues LaBrèque has succeeded Fréchette as chair of the board. CEO of Nowa, a leak detection systems manufacturer, LaBrèque previously served as the organization’s treasurer. He is one of the founders of the Quebec Water Damage Prevention Association (Prevdeq), established in November 2017.
LaBrèque recently gave an interview to Insurance Portal, accompanied by Patrick Mailloux, a director of the organization and vice-president at Akisens, another company that designs and installs water detection systems. Mailloux serves as Prevcan’s secretary and treasurer.
In addition to insurers, the Association includes five accredited manufacturing firms and nearly 50 specialized installation companies. Other partners are also members, including brokerage firms. Broker Vincent Gaudreau, president of Fort Assurances et Services financiers, is a Prevcan board member.
Over the years, insurers have pushed to expand the accreditation process established by Prevdeq to the entire Canadian industry, leading to the creation of Prevcan. Other provincial associations have since been launched, first in Ontario, then in Alberta and British Columbia.
LaBrèque notes that four Canadian manufacturers have submitted their applications to obtain Prevcan accreditation. System certification is conducted by the Centre d’innovation en microélectronique du Québec (CIMEQ), which ensures technical compliance. One key goal is to confirm effective communication between detectors, control panels and monitoring centres.
Outdated numbers
At the 2023 Journée de l’assurance de dommages, Association vice-president Robert Demers of Akisens presented a chart entitled Profile of Real-Life Experience in High-Rise Buildings.
It compared various types of buildings: seniors’ residences ranging from one to five storeys, condo towers of various heights and rental properties where detection systems had been installed for at least three years. The sample covered a total of 5,000 residential units.
The chart showed the history of claims going back at least three years prior to the system installations. The total value of claims amounted to $31.8 million. In the three years following the installations, no additional claims were filed, even though 7,740 leaks had been detected by some 28,137 detectors installed in the buildings.
To achieve such results, detectors must be connected to a system capable of cutting off the water supply as soon as a leak is detected. “If you want to buy a $20 product from brand X at the hardware store, and it just emits an alarm when there’s water, you can do that. But it’s not a complete solution,” says LaBrèque.
By June 2026, Prevcan promises to update the claims data based on a sample of 50,000 units. “We had to find a way to anonymize the data, because our manufacturer members are also competitors,” the organization’s president points out. The same concern over privacy applies to data provided by insurers.
The Association hopes to produce a report that can determine—based on the number of units, building height and age—how many alerts occurred and what caused the leaks.
Ultimately, Prevcan wants to establish a link between the reduction in claims and the presence of detection systems. “That’s not easy to do, since insurers need to provide us with the building’s claims history,” notes Patrick Mailloux.
“It’s our challenge to connect the data. We want to demonstrate the performance of our systems. That way, the insurer can trust the installed equipment and price the risk accordingly,” adds LaBrèque. The vast majority of systems currently installed in condominiums were added after several costly claims.
Old vs. new
If the original insurer hasn’t yet required the installation of a detection system, there’s a strong chance that the next one will.
However, insurers compete with one another. “An insurer who makes such a system mandatory at the underwriting stage could lose the business to another,” notes LaBrèque.
Prevcan maintains that installing these systems virtually eliminates all plumbing- and appliance-related claims in a building.
When it comes to new or under-construction buildings, property developers remain lukewarm, admits Jean-Hugues LaBrèque. “Penetration remains extremely low,” he says.
“Developers have a hard time staying within construction budgets. When they have to cut costs, prevention is the first to go,” LaBrèque adds. In some cases, the developer’s insurer requires the installation of necessary systems as additional floors are added.
Installing shut-off valves in advance reduces the cost of detection systems, which later become the condo board’s responsibility once it’s established, according to LaBrèque. Patrick Mailloux confirms that advance valve installation is becoming more common in new buildings.
With support from the Corporation des maîtres mécaniciens en tuyauterie du Québec (CMMTQ), Prevcan is lobbying to amend the Building Code to mandate valve installation during construction of new condo buildings. “We’re pushing for this, but it’s a long-term effort,” says Jean-Hugues LaBrèque.
Installing systems in already-occupied buildings is not particularly complex. Prevcan’s president estimates that it takes about one hour to install a valve on a unit’s water inlet.
Condo boards show greater interest in installing detection systems after multiple loss events, notes Mailloux. In such cases, insurers can pressure owners by requiring system installation as a condition for maintaining coverage. Raising the deductible is another form of incentive, adds LaBrèque.
Prevcan recently launched a training course designed for property and casualty insurance brokers. The three-hour online course helps generate revenue for the Association, whose operations remain limited with just one part-time staff member.
Monitoring
To be recognized by the insurer in calculating the premium or deductible of a condo building’s insurance policy, the installed system must include a control panel, a monitoring component and a shut-off valve.
“If systems are installed but there’s no monitoring of the detected leaks, when we do inspections two years later, we find that 50 per cent of the units are disconnected,” explains Jean-Hugues LaBrèque. Condo owners complain about too many alerts.
“We have supervision modules that manage the installed systems, that remain active and compile all incidents,” says LaBrèque. The condo board is given access to a web portal that allows real-time leak management.
This is especially useful for short-term rental units or those that may be vacant for extended periods. A leak in an unsupervised unit can cause major damage.
The systems offered by manufacturers and installers target high-rise buildings with more than 16 units—not single-family homes, LaBrèque emphasizes.
Elsewhere in the country
In other parts of the country, Prevcan representatives are seeing growing interest from condo boards in detection systems, especially in Vancouver and Toronto. “But demand remains very limited,” says LaBrèque. In his view, new condo construction in Ontario’s capital has slowed significantly.
Awareness efforts around water damage prevention began years ago in Quebec, but much work remains in the rest of Canada, adds Patrick Mailloux.
By bringing in new members, especially insurers, the Association will gain more resources and partners to continue its education and prevention efforts, concludes LaBrèque.
