in 2013 an insurance bureau of canada commissioned report noted that, "on average, canada now experiences 20 more days of rain compared with the 1950s." in the same report mcbean noted that "the recent spike in extreme weather-related events" in canada "resulted in social and economic consequences for individuals, governments, and home and business insurers around the country." during a presentation of the report to the empire club of canada, mcbean associated flooding of toronto's union station on june 1, 2012 with "unthinkable" severe weather and other historic floods in canada (see presentation 3:14), while it was later revealed the flooding was caused by construction contractors actions and the removal of an adjacent sewer. this highlights the need to critically evaluate causes of flooding including those related to hydrology of watersheds and increased runoff rates from drainage catchments, and related to hydraulic capacity of infrastructure systems including temporary construction conditions or other operational constraints.