Ontario Auto Rate Watch: what FSRA approved for renewals after July 1, 2026

The short answer

FSRA has approved 47 private passenger auto rate filings that take effect on Ontario renewals between July 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027. They cover 30 insurance companies in 20 insurer groups.

• 21 are average rate decreases
• 14 are no change (0.00%)
• 12 are average rate increases

The simple (unweighted) average across all 47 filings is −0.26%. The median is 0.00%.

For comparison, the 37 filings taking effect in the first half of 2026 (January 1 to June 30) ran the other way: 14 increases, 16 no change and 7 decreases, with a simple average of +1.23%.

Before 2026, the only year in the database (back to 2018) in which approved decreases outnumbered increases was 2021.

What this does and doesn't tell you

An approved rate change is an average across an insurer's whole book. FSRA describes it as the expected average change in premiums across all of that company's private passenger customers at renewal. Your own renewal can move more, less, or in the opposite direction, depending on your driving record, vehicle, address, claims and the coverage you choose.

Three more limits apply to this briefing:

1. The averages above are unweighted. Each filing counts once, whether the insurer writes a large or small share of Ontario policies. The FSRA database does not carry market-share figures for these 2026 filings, so we can't weight them, and we don't present −0.26% as the market-wide change.
2. We don't attribute these filings to the July 1, 2026 accident benefits reform. The timing overlaps, but each filing rests on that insurer's own actuarial case. Coverage choices introduced by the reform can also change what an individual driver pays, separately from any approved rate change.
3. A 0.00% filing isn't necessarily "nothing changed." The database reports the average rate change only. A filing can approve other changes, such as rules or rating details, that it doesn't show.

Same group, different direction

Several insurer groups had companies approved in opposite directions. The company named on your policy matters more than the brand group.

Your policy documents name the underwriting company. That company, not the group, is the one to look up.

Some insurers have more than one filing in the window

When an insurer has several approvals, the one that applies is generally the most recent filing whose effective date falls on or before your renewal date. Examples from this window:

• Wawanesa: −0.23% from Sep 1, 2026; 0.00% from Sep 17, 2026; −3.99% from Jan 1, 2027
• Desjardins companies (Certas Direct, Certas Home and Auto, The Personal): −2.00%, −2.00% and −5.30% from Nov 28, 2026, then 0.00% filings from Dec 27, 2026
• Co-operators: −3.73% from Sep 11, 2026, then +0.01% from Feb 1, 2027

The largest moves, and two to read with care

These are approved averages sorted by size. The list is not a ranking of insurers and says nothing about which company would be cheaper for you.

Largest approved decreases: PURE Insurance −14.80% · The Personal −5.30% · Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan (Ontario mutuals) −4.89% · Heartland Farm Mutual −4.62% · Wawanesa −3.99% (from Jan 1, 2027).

Largest approved increases: Facility Association +8.70% · Continental Casualty +7.39% · Jevco +5.70% · Echelon +5.54% · Portage la Prairie +5.00%.

Two of these sit outside the typical household market:

• PURE writes a small, high-net-worth book.
• Facility Association is Ontario's residual market, insuring drivers who can't get coverage from a regular insurer.

Removing both leaves 44 filings: 20 decreases, 13 no change and 11 increases, with a simple average of −0.14%. The direction of the finding holds.

The longer view

Approved filings by renewal-effective year, all Ontario private passenger auto approvals in the FSRA database:

*2018 is partial: the database begins with approvals dated January 2018, so earlier-approved filings effective in 2018 are not included. Figures for 2026 and later will change as FSRA approves more filings.

How to check your own insurer

1. Find the underwriting company on your policy or renewal notice.
2. Look it up in FSRA's Auto Rate Approvals database.
3. Find the most recent approval whose renewal effective date is on or before your renewal date.
4. Read that percentage as your insurer's average, not a forecast of your own premium.

Method

• Source: FSRA Auto Rate Approvals database, the public record of approved private passenger auto rate changes for Ontario insurers, covering approvals since January 1, 2018.
• Pulled: November 9, 2026. The full database returned 788 approvals, with approval dates from January 3, 2018 to October 30, 2026.
• Analysis set: every approval with a renewal effective date on or after July 1, 2026 (47 filings). Comparison set: effective dates January 1 to June 30, 2026 (37 filings).
• Statistics: counts of decreases, no-change and increases; simple (unweighted) mean and median of the approved average rate change. Each filing counts once. Companies with several filings appear once per filing.
• Not done: no market-share weighting (not available for these filings), no adjustment for coverage changes, no attribution of individual filings to the reform.
• Dataset: the 47-filing analysis set is attached as a CSV. Every row can be checked against FSRA's database by company name.

Full list: filings effective July 1, 2026 onward