Why there is no single “cheapest province” ranking here
The provincial figures you see quoted around the web measure different things. They differ on four dimensions at once: system type (private market, public monopoly, or Quebec’s hybrid), measure (written premium, earned premium, or a computed total-divided-by-vehicles), reference period (calendar 2024, accident-year 2023, trailing-12-months 2025), and coverage scope (all-in, property-damage-only, or a bundled public plan). Ranking them in one column would compare numbers that do not measure the same thing. So this page groups jurisdictions by how their system works, shows a dollar figure only where a primary source publishes one, and labels each figure with its own basis.
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Private-market provinces & territories
Insurers compete on price for every coverage. Ontario and Alberta have regulator-published averages; for the other seven jurisdictions the statistical agent (GISA) publishes average earned premium only in graphical form in its free exhibits, so no dollar figure is shown.
Hybrid public–private (Quebec)
Injury coverage is public and paid through licence/registration contributions; only property damage is privately insured. Quebec’s widely-quoted average covers just the private half.
Public-monopoly basic plans (BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)
A Crown insurer sells the mandatory coverage; private insurers sell some optional layers. These systems bundle coverages private markets sell separately, so their figures are not private-market averages.
Mandatory minimums, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
What the law actually requires, with the statute each requirement comes from. Direct compensation for property damage (DCPD) is not a yes/no column: Ontario insurers must offer it but drivers have been able to decline it since January 1, 2024, and in the three territories its status could not be established from primary sources. Territorial statute citations reflect the consolidations we could locate; a fully current official consolidation for each territory was not independently confirmed.
Within Ontario, the address alone moves the price
No official body publishes average premiums by Ontario city — FSRA’s breakdowns stop at broad regions. The one official datapoint on city-level disparity is a controlled illustration from the Auditor General of Ontario’s 2022 audit:
Read this as an illustration, not an average: 10 quotes for the same consumer and the same vehicle, changing only the home address; premiums ranged from $1,200 (London) to $3,350 (Brampton). The territorial rating framework the quotes were built on has not been updated since 2005. Source: Auditor General of Ontario, 2022 value-for-money audit of FSRA (reconfirmed in the 2024 follow-up).
Questions about insurance across provinces
Can I keep my insurance when I move provinces?
No. Each province requires a policy issued under its own rules. After a move you must re-license and re-insure within your new province’s deadline, and in public-monopoly provinces (BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan) the mandatory coverage comes from the Crown insurer.
Why is Ontario auto insurance so expensive?
Ontario’s regulator-published average — $2,164 as of October 2025, per FSRA — is an all-in figure covering liability, accident benefits and property damage in a fully private market. The Auditor General of Ontario reported in 2022 that Ontario had the highest private passenger premiums in Canada after growing 14% between 2017 and 2021. The July 1, 2026 reform changes the largest cost driver by making most accident benefits optional; medical, rehabilitation and attendant care remain mandatory.
Which province has the cheapest car insurance?
Published data cannot answer that question honestly. The lowest widely-quoted figure — Quebec’s — covers only private property-damage insurance; bodily-injury coverage there is a separate public plan paid through licence and registration fees. Public-monopoly provinces bundle coverages that private markets sell separately, and most Atlantic and territorial figures circulating online cannot be traced to a primary source at all.
Primary sources
Every figure and legal requirement on this page traces to one of these publishers. Where a widely-circulated number could not be verified at its claimed source, it does not appear here.
- FSRA (Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario) — Ontario average premium; auto insurance regulation
- AIRB (Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board) — Alberta average written premium — 2025 Annual and 2026 Mid-Year Market and Trends Reports; Care-First and Grid transition bulletins
- GAA (Groupement des assureurs automobiles) — Quebec private property-damage premium, Automobile Statistical Plan
- SAAQ (Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec) — Public bodily-injury plan; insurance contributions on licences and registrations (contribution holiday 2022–2025)
- ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) — Basic Autoplan; Enhanced Care; Basic rate freeze to March 31, 2027
- IBC (Insurance Bureau of Canada) — BC average-premium computation (total premiums ÷ insured personal vehicles)
- GISA (General Insurance Statistical Agency) — Statistical agent for nine jurisdictions; "average earned premium" definitions and free public exhibits (accident-year 2023)
- Auditor General of Ontario — 2022 value-for-money audit of FSRA — the London/Brampton controlled-quote illustration (reconfirmed 2024)
- Provincial and territorial insurance statutes — Minimum liability and DCPD citations as listed per row (Ontario e-Laws, Alberta King’s Printer, LégisQuébec, and counterparts)
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