[Auto] The definitive Canada car insurance premiums barometer (2024)
Where in Canada do you pay the most for car insurance premiums? What are the car insurance premium differences depending on your profile? Are there differences from one province to another? From one city to another? This 2023 Canada car insurance barometer answers all those questions.
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Top 10 cities that have the highest car insurance premiums
Top 10 cities that have the lowest car insurance premiums
Other citiesAlberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario have the highest car insurance premiums in Canada
With car insurance systems varying from one province to another, it is sometimes hard to compare premium levels in Canada. However, the Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons study released in October 2022 gives very accurate data on how much Canadians may pay depending on their location and driver's profile (for more details, consult our methodology section below). A thorough analysis of this data shows that:
- Alberta ($3,151 median premium), Nova Scotia ($2,491) and Ontario ($2,299) are the provinces where drivers pay the highest car insurance premiums in the country
- Manitoba ($1,373 median premium) and Saskatchewan ($1,249) are the Canadian provinces where drivers pay the less premiums.
Source : Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons (ICBC, October 2022)
Good to know
As our source study do not include driver samples from Quebec, we decided not to include that province in our analysis, to avoid comparing provinces on a biased basis.
Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax: the cities with highest car insurance premiums in Canada
When decrypting the data released on October 2022, we observe very important differences in car insurance premium levels from one Canadian city to another. Based on the 27 car driver profiles used in the ICBC's study, we established the following ranking between Canadian cities, in which we observe that:
- Calgary and Edmonton are by far the cities where drivers pay the more car insurance premiums in Canada - with a respective annual median premium of $3,182 and $3,150
- The Atlantic cities also seem to be faced with high car insurance premiums: $2,490 in Halifax, $2,340 in Saint John's and $2,247 in Moncton
- On the other hand, the cities located in provinces where the car insurance system is public seem to enjoy lower premiums: $1,841 in Vancouver, $1,381 in Winnipeg and $1,249 in Saskatoon.
| Rank | Cities | Province | Car insurance system | Median car insurance premium levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary | Alberta | Private | $3,182 |
| 2 | Edmonton | Alberta | Private | $3,150 |
| 3 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | Private | $2,490 |
| 4 | St John's | Newfoundland and Labrador | Private | $2,340 |
| 5 | Toronto | Ontario | Private | $2,295 |
| 6 | Moncton | New Brunswick | Private | $2,247 |
| 7 | Ottawa | Ontario | Private | $2,190 |
| 8 | Vancouver | British Columbia | Public | $1,841 |
| 9 | Charlottetown | Prince Edward Island | Private | $1,711 |
| 10 | Winnipeg | Manitoba | Public | $1,381 |
| 11 | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Public | $1,249 |
Good to know
As our source study do not include driver samples from the main Quebec cities, we decided not to include those cities in our analysis, to avoid marking comparisons on a biased basis.
Who pays what? Insight on car insurance premiums per profile in Canada
Navigating ICBC's Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons' data offers a good overview of the differences that exist between Canadian drivers in front of car insurance premiums. We have sorted out its data to see in what extent premiums vary from one profile of driver to another, especially regarding the number of years of license and gender.
$383
... This is the lowest annual car insurance found in all Canada in the ICBC's report in October 2022. It corresponds to the following driver profile:
- A female driver
- Living in The Pas (Manitoba)
- 51 years old
- Employed
- 35 years licensed
$6,828
... This is the highest annual car insurance premium found in all Canada in the ICBC's report in October 2022. It corresponds to the following driver profile:
- A male driver
- Living in St John's (Newfoundland)
- 18 years old
- Student
- Stage 2 Learner driver
Stage 2 learner drivers likely to pay 4.8 times more than 35 years licensed drivers
It is no surprise to see that the number of years of license is a factor that has a lot of influence on car insurance premiums in Canada. Actually, when a Canadian stage 2 learner driver is likely to pay on average $3,662 per year, 35 years licensed drivers will 'only' pay $768 for the same coverage* - e.g. almost 4.7 times less! In general, we observe that:
- Until 35 years of license, the more drivers have years of license, the less they pay in car insurance premiums
- However, after 35 years of license, premiums start to grow again, because of drivers getting older.
Source: Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons (ICBC, October 2022)
Good to know
*The different profiles of insured drivers that have been taken into account for this analysis are:
- drivers commuting 20 kilometers or less per day
- people driving 30,000 kilometers or less per year
- drivers that have no accident record nor recent major conviction or claim.
Canadian male drivers pay on average 4.1% more in premiums that female drivers
Gender is a factor that can have influence on the car insurance premiums you pay. Indeed, we could calculate from the ICBC's report data that on average, male drivers pay $1,935 for their annual car insurance premiums, when female drivers 'only' pay $1,859 for the exact same coverage - which represents a 4.1% difference between both gender.
Source Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons (ICBC, October 2022)
Our methodology
In addition to its expert editorial line around insurance and financial products, HelloSafe explores broader topics relating to global consumption in Canada and around the world. The aim is to decipher certain complex subjects for consumers and to provide everyone with the latest information. It is within this framework that HelloSafe regularly carries out studies on trends relating to current personal finance in Canada.
This report was made upon data shared in the Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons ordered by the ICBC, which was released in October 2022. We used available data on car insurance premiums for a total of 33 Canadian cities located in 9 different provinces, for 27 different profiles of drivers - mixing criteria such as gender, age, marital and employment status, numbers of years of license, history of claims and convictions, distance of commute, annual kilometers driven and the car type and model.
As car insurance premiums depend on a very wide range of criteria and coverages may change from one province to another, the numbers displayed here should not be taken as absolute or definitive premium numbers, but rather as indicators that offer a basis for comparison.
About HelloSafe Canada
HelloSafe is Canada's leading platform for comparing insurance and personal financial products. HelloSafe provides Canadians with hundreds of free, anonymous and quick comparison tools and calculators built on powerful proprietary technology. Up-to-date content from experts accompanies all our comparison tools. Our platform empowers you to make the best decisions with your money and find the right products at the right price.
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Nolwenn Abolivier
Press relations and communication officer