Age is one of the rating factors Canadian car insurers use, alongside driving record, years licensed, vehicle and location. Premiums are highest for newly licensed teenage drivers and fall as drivers build experience and a clean record. This page explains how age affects the price and what lowers it at each stage. How your province’s average compares is on the average car insurance by province page, and our other guides are in the car insurance hub.
Why there is no official table of premiums by age
No regulator or statistical agency publishes average premiums by age for Canada. Premiums also differ so much by province, city, vehicle and record that a single figure for an age would say little about your own quote. The published figures that do exist are for specific driver profiles.
What a published profile shows
Alberta’s Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) priced consumer driver profiles to estimate the effect of the Care-First reform that starts on January 1, 2027. It reported on September 8, 2026:
| AIRB profile | Estimated premium reduction under Care-First | Implied premium before the change |
|---|---|---|
| Young male driver | $3,094 (30.0%) | Roughly $10,313 |
| Middle-aged driver | About $525 (about 14.0%) | Roughly $3,750 |
The implied premium is the dollar reduction divided by the percentage reduction, so it is approximate. On these profiles, the young driver’s premium was roughly 2.8 times the middle-aged driver’s. These are profiles priced for one province, not averages.
How age and experience change the price
- New drivers: a driver with no record has no claim-free discount yet. Graduated licensing and the rest of the new-driver picture are covered in car insurance for new drivers.
- Building experience: premiums fall with each claim-free year. In Alberta, the Grid (repealed effective January 1, 2027) sets the most an insurer can charge for basic coverage. Insurers must compare their own rate for basic coverage with the Grid rate and charge the lower of the two. Drivers with serious records (such as several recent at-fault claims, a Criminal Code conviction or auto insurance fraud) can be charged the Grid rate instead of a lower rate. A small share of Alberta drivers are Grid-rated, mostly new and less experienced drivers. Each year a Grid-rated driver goes without an at-fault claim in third-party liability coverage, the rate falls by 5%, down to a maximum of 60% below the base rate. In BC, ICBC rates Basic insurance with a driver factor. The driver factor improves as the driver gains driving experience and for each year they stay crash-free. Up to 40 years of driving experience count toward Basic insurance discounts.
- At-fault claims: a claim can undo several years of progress. In Alberta: Each at-fault claim raises a Grid-rated driver's rate by 5 steps, and convictions and at-fault claims also bring surcharges. In BC, ICBC’s driver factor also weighs crash history: 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).
- Older drivers: some insurers charge more at older ages. In BC, ICBC drivers 65 or older may get 25% off Basic insurance when the vehicle is insured for pleasure use only; the discount is reduced after one at-fault crash and eliminated after a second within the 10-year scan period. Seniors who also qualify for ICBC's disability discount can receive both.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada lists age, gender and marital status among the factors insurers can consider. 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.
Lowering rates at each age
What works depends on where you are on the age curve.
- 16 to 24: being listed on a parent’s policy rather than buying a separate one, completing an approved driver training course, choosing an inexpensive car and enrolling in a usage-based program are the usual levers. In Alberta: New drivers who have taken driver training start at Grid step -2, 10% below the base rate. Vehicle choice is covered in cheapest cars to insure.
- 25 to 55: the savings come from comparison shopping, bundling, deductibles and group plans, all covered in our guide to lowering a car insurance premium.
- 55 and over: low annual mileage, retiree or senior discounts where offered, and comparing quotes. The Insurance Bureau of Canada notes that driving less can lower a premium.
Milestones that can lower a premium
| Milestone | Why it can matter |
|---|---|
| Each claim-free year | Claim-free experience is rewarded in the rating (for example, Alberta’s Grid and ICBC’s driver factor) |
| Completing driver training | Some rating systems start trained new drivers lower |
| Paying off a car loan | The lender no longer requires collision and comprehensive, so you can decide whether to keep them |
| Driving less | Lower mileage can mean a lower premium |
Related reading
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 25, 2026 and October 5, 2026. How we check facts.
- airbfordrivers.ca: Care-First Premium Impacts | AIRB
- airbfordrivers.ca: Alberta's Grid Rating System | AIRB
- Government of Alberta: Enabling better auto insurance | Alberta.ca
- ICBC: ICBC Autoplan Insurance Guide
- ICBC: Drivers, experience and crash history