This is the issue that keeps insurance executives up at night more than any other: the possibility of a Cascadia subduction earthquake. After the 2011 earthquake that happened off the coast of Japan, which was far greater than any modelling had predicted—that was a 9.0—there was an analysis done globally on where else such big earthquakes could happen. Unfortunately, off the coast of B.C. is one of those zones. It is difficult to imagine the extent. Essentially, the continental shelf would basically drop six feet, so Delta, B.C., would be underwater. You would basically have the ocean just flood-roll in.
This is—in the words of a previous OSFI superintendent—an event that will happen; we just don't know when.