Cheap Ontario Car Insurance Quotes

Although all insurance companies use the same information to determine your quote, they evaluate your risk differently. This means they all offer different prices for broadly the same coverage. As a result, provincial regulators, like FSRA recommend to shop around and get multiple quotes before you purchase a policy. It is the easiest way to ensure you get the best rate available.

Ontario Car insurance rates change up to four times per year. By shopping around, you can check to see if your current insurance provider is still the one that offers you the best rates. If not, it might be time to switch to a company that offers a better price.

According to data from RATESDOTCA Insuramap, Cornwall, Elizabethtown, Amherstview, Gananoque, Martintown, Iroquois, Brockville, and Kingston are tied for the cheapest auto insurance in Ontario, they all have the average auto insurance premium of $1,132 per year.

Generally speaking, smaller, more rural locations tend to have lower car insurance rates than big cities with high traffic density. For example, cities like Toronto and Brampton have some of the highest insurance rates in the province, while smaller cities, like Belleville, are relatively cheap.

According to proprietary data from RATESDOTCA Insuramap, the cities with the most expensive car insurance in Ontario are all part of the GTA. Vaughan has the most expensive car insurance rates on average of $2,179 per year, followed by Ajax $2,104 per year, Richmond Hill $2,025 per year , Brampton $1,976 per year, Mississauga $1,971 per year , and Pickering $1,959 per year.

The make and model of the vehicle you drive has a big impact on your rates. There are two major things insurance companies consider when it comes to your car: the vehicle’s safety rating, and the likelihood of it being stolen.

We took a look at some of the best-selling cars in Canada and compared quotes for an average 35-year-old driver without any convictions or tickets in ten cities across Ontario, including Ottawa and Toronto. We averaged the rates and found the cheapest vehicles to insure are the Dodge RAM 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado, while the most expensive vehicle to insure is the popular Honda Civic.

RAM pickup trucks and the Chevrolet Silverado are among the safest vehicles on the road, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which helps keep their rates low. The Honda Civic is one of the most stolen vehicles in Canada, which is part of the reason it is more expensive to insure.

Statutory Accident Benefits provides coverage if you are injured in an automobile accident, regardless of who is at fault. This helps cover the costs of medical expenses including physiotherapy and rehabilitation costs that aren’t covered by OHIP. This coverage is mandatory in Ontario and included in a standard auto insurance policy.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of what statutory accident benefits cover:

• Income Replacement Benefits: Weekly replacement of 70% of your gross income up to $400 per week.
• Medical, Rehabilitation and Attendant Care Benefits: Up to $65,000 for serious injuries like sprains and broken bones, and $1 million for catastrophic injuries like loss of limb, paralysis, etc.
• Caregiver Benefits: Up to $250 per week for the first dependant, and $50 per week for each additional dependant, for catastrophic injuries.
• Housekeeping and Home Maintenance Expenses: Maximum of up to $100 payout per week in the case of a catastrophic injury.
• Death and Funeral Benefits: Up to $25,000 payout to the spouse, $10,000 for each of the dependents, and a maximum of $6,000 in funeral costs.

There is additional protection that is available for you to purchase on top of the minimum Statutory Accident Benefits included in a basic policy. This includes:

• Income Replacement Benefits: Can be extended to $600, $800, or $1000 per week.
• Medical, Rehabilitation and Attendant Care Benefits: Can be increased up to $1 million for serious injuries, and $2 million for catastrophic injuries.
• Caregiver Benefits Expenses: Can be increased to apply to any kind of injuries, not just catastrophic ones.
• Housekeeping and Home Maintenance Expenses: Can be increased to apply to any kind of injuries, not just catastrophic ones.
• Death and Funeral Benefits: Can be increased to $50,000 to the spouse, $20,000 to each dependant, $8,000 for funeral costs.

Insurers in Ontario must go through to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) if they want to increase (or decrease) rates. FSRA releases a list of these insurance companies and the approved rate changes shortly after approval is granted.

Ontario drivers have dealt with years of consecutive price increases for car insurance. However, prices have fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are driving less and insurance companies have issued pandemic rebates — this all translates into lower premiums.

However, once traffic starts to climb to pre-pandemic levels, an increase in premiums could follow. Actually, we bet on that happening.

Here's why: the issues that insurers said were forcing them to raise prices have not been resolved.

Before the pandemic, the Financial Services Regulation Authority of Ontario (FSRA) noted that the cost to repair cars had gone up. Supply chain shortages and worsening inflation is pushing up repair costs even higher.

Plus, distracted driving due to cell phone use has increased the number of accidents on Ontario’s roads. In fact, FSRA reports that accident benefits and third-party liability claims account for more than half of all auto insurance claims.

See a table of recent Ontario auto insurance rate changes here.