Average Car Insurance by Province in Canada, and Whether You Pay Too Much

Car insurance costs in Canada depend first on where you live. Each province sets its own rules, four run a public insurer for some or all coverage, and within a province the rate for a given postal code can be far from the provincial average. This page gives the provincial averages that are published, explains why they can’t all be compared with each other, and ends with a self-check for whether your own premium is out of line. It is part of our car insurance guides for Canada.

Average car insurance premium by province

There is no single set of averages covering every province. The provinces fall into groups that publish different measures, and a figure from one group can’t be ranked against a figure from another.

Private-market provinces: Ontario, Alberta and Atlantic Canada

The General Insurance Statistical Agency (GISA), the statistical agent of the provincial insurance regulators, publishes the same measure for these six provinces: the average earned premium per insured vehicle, all coverages combined, for private passenger vehicles (excluding farmers). The 2024 figures below come from GISA’s detailed exhibits, and 2024 is the latest year in the exhibits posted for all six, so they can be compared with each other.

Among these six provinces, Ontario had the highest 2024 average ($1,928) and Prince Edward Island the lowest ($1,018). Ontario and Alberta also have 2025 figures: $2,117 in Ontario and $1,820 in Alberta. GISA’s key measures summary also gives rounded 2025 averages for the Atlantic provinces, but the detailed Atlantic exhibit for 2025 had not been posted when this page was checked.

Public-insurer provinces: each has its own measure

British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec publish averages, but each one measures something different, so they can’t be ranked against each other or against the table above.

Saskatchewan’s public insurer, SGI, does not publish an average premium per vehicle. The only SGI figures are a comparison of standardized driver profiles priced in each province, which is a different measure again.

Each province page explains what its coverage buys: Ontario, British Columbia and ICBC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and SGI, Manitoba and MPI Autopac, Quebec and the SAAQ, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Why the averages differ between provinces

Public, private and split systems

Who sells the mandatory coverage depends on the province:

• In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, drivers must buy minimum coverage from the government insurer (ICBC, MPI and SGI).
• In Quebec, drivers must buy bodily injury coverage from the government insurer (the SAAQ) and can buy other coverage from private insurers.
• In Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, drivers buy coverage from private insurers.

In the public provinces, the basic premium comes from one insurer, so shopping around only affects the additional coverage. In the private provinces, every part of the policy can be priced differently by each insurer, which is why comparison matters more there.

What goes into a province’s average

The published averages differ in what they include: all coverages, Basic only, or property damage only. Beyond that, premiums follow claims costs, and insurers rate on factors such as where the car is kept, how it is used, the vehicle’s make and model, and the driving and claims history of the people who drive it. Quebec’s private figure is low partly because it leaves out bodily injury, which the SAAQ covers.

How cities differ from their province

Averages for a whole province hide large differences within it. Insurers rate by where the vehicle is kept: ICBC, for example, divides British Columbia into rating territories by geography and population, because a vehicle in a densely populated area is more likely to be in a crash. A postal code in a large, dense city can therefore cost far more than a small-town one for the same driver.

What drives the city gaps is covered on the Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton pages, and on the Ontario page’s section on other Ontario cities.

Gender as a rating factor

The Insurance Bureau of Canada lists age, gender and marital status among the factors insurers can consider, alongside driving record, years licensed, vehicle and location. ICBC’s list of what sets a BC premium (rate class, territory, the driver factor and, for optional coverage, the vehicle’s make and model) does not include gender.

Is your premium too high? A self-check

An average is only a starting point. Your premium depends mostly on your city, age, driving record, vehicle and coverage, so the useful comparison is with drivers who share your profile, not with a friend in another city. Age alone can change the price a great deal: see car insurance cost by age and the costs facing newly licensed drivers.

Signs you may be overpaying

When a high premium is probably fair

A high premium is not automatically overpriced. It is more likely to be fair if:

• you live in a high-cost area, such as a dense city postal code
• you have recent tickets or at-fault claims
• you insure a newer, financed or leased vehicle
• you carry high liability limits plus collision and comprehensive coverage
• you are a newer driver or use the vehicle for business

Coverage check by vehicle age

As a car ages, the most collision coverage can pay out (the car’s value) falls. The Insurance Bureau of Canada suggests considering dropping collision on an older vehicle; your liability coverage still protects you for damage you cause to others. Comparing the collision premium with what the car is worth is a quick test.

How tickets and at-fault claims raise a premium

Your record explains much of the gap between your premium and the average. How much a conviction or claim adds, and for how long, depends on the insurer and the province. Some published examples:

• British Columbia: ICBC looks at at-fault claims in up to 10 previous years, but no earlier than March 1, 2017 (so the full 10-year period applies from 2027). Serious or repeated offences bring a separate charge: ICBC charges a Driver Risk Premium, separate from Autoplan premiums and billed even to drivers who don't own or insure a vehicle, when a driver's record over the previous 3 years includes a driving-related Criminal Code conviction, a 10-point Motor Vehicle Act conviction, an excessive speeding conviction, two or more roadside suspensions or prohibitions, or two or more convictions for using an electronic device while driving.
• Alberta: under the Grid Rating Program (repealed effective January 1, 2027), which sets the most an insurer can charge for basic coverage: Each at-fault claim raises a Grid-rated driver's rate by 5 steps, and convictions and at-fault claims also bring surcharges.
• Private insurers generally: convictions and at-fault claims are rating factors, and more serious offences cost more.

Drivers with serious convictions or several at-fault claims can end up with the Facility Association, which provides auto insurance to eligible drivers who can’t get it elsewhere in Alberta, Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and the territories. A clean record kept for several consecutive years usually lets a driver find a rate with a regular insurer again.

If the check says you are overpaying

The fixes are usually comparison shopping and a review of deductibles and optional coverage. The full list of discounts and trade-offs is in our guide to how car insurance works and how to lower a premium, and the insurers worth quoting are compared in best car insurance companies in Canada.

Minimum liability by province

Every province and territory requires third-party liability coverage. The minimums are:

• British Columbia: $200,000.
• Alberta: $200,000.
• Saskatchewan: $200,000.
• Manitoba: $500,000.
• Ontario: $200,000.
• Quebec: $50,000 of civil liability, which must be bought from a private insurer; bodily injury coverage comes from the government insurer, the SAAQ.
• New Brunswick: $200,000.
• Nova Scotia: $500,000.
• Prince Edward Island: $200,000.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: $200,000.
• Yukon: $200,000.
• Northwest Territories: $200,000.
• Nunavut: $200,000.
• These are minimums: higher liability limits can be bought.

In British Columbia, ICBC says many drivers raise their third-party liability to $1 million or more, because damages after a serious crash can be well above the minimum.

Related reading

• Cheap car insurance in Ontario
• Cheapest cars to insure in Canada
• Average home insurance in Canada
• How much to spend on a car
• Car affordability calculator