Before a disaster

• Be sure you have adequate insurance coverage. At the very least arrange for basic coverage for your living expenses while you wait for your home to be restored to habitable condition and for the replacement of your essentials.
• Check what kind of protection is provided under your insurance policy.
• Prepare an inventory of your things. If possible, take photos or videos.

As soon as you have suffered a loss

• Contact your insurance broker to report the damage. They will check on the extent of your coverage and tell you how to proceed.
• Prepare a list of everything that has been damaged or destroyed and, if possible, take photos or videos of them before disposing of them.
• Do everything necessary to avoid worsening the damage, and keep the receipts of expenses incurred in that regard.
• Keep all receipts of expenses you incurred for housing and food outside your home. Depending on the nature of the event and your coverage, you may be reimbursed for those expenses.

Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Financial assistance

If you suffer damage as a result of an event (flood, shoreline erosion, submersion, landslide, etc.), you should apply to the Centre d'appels non urgents at 311. During or after the event, Gatineau could use the list you send to let you know what steps you should take and what provisions are in place for the type of event in question.

After an event, the government may offer financial assistance to the victims.

It may take a few weeks after an event for a decree to be issued concerning the assistance program in question. Eligible expenses will be those related to the principal residence and its basic contents.

To determine whether you are entitled to financial assistance and which expenses are eligible, got to the ministère de la Sécurité publique (MSP) web site.