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According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the average cost of car insurance in Ontario is $1,505. But if you live in Toronto, expect to pay more than the provincial average—a large population means more cars on the road, which means a higher likelihood of collisions, theft and fraud. This makes driving in Toronto riskier compared to other cities in the eyes of insurers, which translates to higher premiums. There are things you can do to avoid paying this much, like practicing defensive driving on Toronto roads and comparing auto insurance rates to find the most affordable coverage.

The Toronto postal code with the highest average premium is the M6M area, in the former City of York. This postal code encompasses the Del Ray, Keelesdale, Mount Dennis, and Silverthorne neighbourhoods. 

The Toronto postal code with the lowest average premium is the M5K district, which encompasses a small parcel of downtown Toronto, on Wellington Street between York and Bay Streets. 

Despite having a high overall average, Toronto isn’t first on the list of the top five Ontario cities with the highest car insurance rates. According to our data, the highest auto insurance premiums in the province can be found in:

1. Brampton
2. North York
3. Mississauga
4. Scarborough
5. Toronto (42% cheaper than Brampton)

Car insurance in Toronto is still higher than the provincial average. Densely populated cities with lots of road traffic have higher than average auto insurance premiums. Insurance companies know that the prevalence of theft and collision in a city like Toronto is higher than in smaller cities by virtue of the population size.

The Ontario cities with the cheapest insurance are:

1. Ottawa
2. Kingston
3. Pembroke
4. Cornwall
5. Brockville (59% cheaper than Toronto)

These cities are less populous than Toronto, which on average lends to cheaper auto insurance rates.

If you’re intent on living in Toronto and you want to own a car, don’t sweat these numbers too much. Where you live is only one variable among many that car insurance companies weigh when determining what premium they’re willing to offer you.

Your personal driving habits also factor into the equation in a major way.

There isn’t one car insurance company that offers cheap auto insurance quotes to every Toronto driver that applies for a policy.

Car insurance premiums are highly customized products. Some factors that insurance companies consider are out of your control (such as the company’s loss ratios, which are influenced by the driving histories of their other customers as well as their underwriting standards). 

There are, however, some factors you can control and use to your advantage to find cheap car insurance in Toronto. 

Factors that are under your control include the type of car you drive, your driving record, the number of kilometres you drive each year, your eligibility for discounts, and the amount of coverage you decide to buy.

In general, buying a utilitarian car that isn’t a target for thieves and has good safety ratings will bring down your rate, as will defensive driving, limiting your mileage, and opting for a basic car insurance policy.

You can drive down your rates a bit further by making yourself eligible for more discounts. For example, installing winter tires, or even maintaining a GPA above a certain level if you’re in school.

When comparing rates, we recommend focusing on the factors you can control, rather than what you can’t — but that’s only the first part of our strategy for finding the cheapest auto insurance quotes in Toronto.

The next step involves comparing car insurance quotes in advance of your policy renewal date. Since every insurance company’s tolerance for risk is a bit different, it’s highly likely that one may favour you more than your current auto insurance company. Once you compare quotes, you may be surprised by the variation in prices. We can help you find a car insurance company serving Toronto that can offer you a lower rate. 

It depends on how you’ll be using your car and which demographic you belong to.

Car insurance companies factor in your annual mileage when calculating your rate. The more time a driver spends on the road, the greater the likelihood they’ll be involved in an accident.

If you use your car on a daily basis and have a long work commute (daily mileage varies by insurer, but a ballpark figure for a long commute is anything over 25-30 km a day), your premium will be higher than someone with a shorter commute.

If you only use your car to run quick errands (about 6-9 km a day), then you will only pay a few dollars more for insurance per month.

If you’re only using your car for pleasure driving (3 km or less), your premiums won’t be affected at all.

Toronto has a good public transportation network. Just because you own a car, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of it. To cut down on your mileage, plan to take the TTC for inner-city excursions. Toronto’s a congested city with limited parking options, so in many cases, the TTC offers a more direct route to where you want to get to and in better time.

When you do need to use your car, combine your trips as often as you can.

Adults between the ages of 50 and 70 get some of the lowest car insurance rates in Toronto. If you belong to this demographic, you probably have a long history of being insured and you might even have bundled your home insurance policy with the same provider of your auto insurance. After age 70, though, you might see your rate begin to creep up because people in this age group are statistically more likely to file a claim. If you do see your rates begin to climb, it may be time to shop around for new automobile insurance in Toronto.

Car insurance for new drivers in Toronto is expensive. Young people pay, on average, the highest insurance premiums of any demographic (adults with driving convictions notwithstanding). For drivers who’ve been insured since the age of 16, rates start declining in the mid-twenties and typically persist until their thirtieth birthday.

Here are some ways you can trim the price of your car insurance rates in Toronto:

• Avoid getting your own car, if you can. Instead, opt to get listed as the secondary driver of your parents’ car. Insurance for secondary drivers costs less than it does for the primary driver.
• If you’re in school (high school or post-secondary), insurance companies offer discounts to students who maintain a certain GPA.
• Take a driver’s education course and make sure you get a certificate of completion. Showing that to an insurance company will lower your rate.

It can be challenging for new drivers to find cheap car insurance in Toronto. However, we’ve found that the demographic that finds the most savings on LowestRates.ca are young drivers — the more you’re expected to pay, the more dramatic the savings you can find when you compare Toronto car insurance quotes.

If you’ve recently immigrated to Ontario, you cannot drive without the proper licencing and insurance.

You must trade-in your licence from the country you’ve emigrated from within 60 days for an Ontario driver’s license. The provincial government recognizes licences from several countries as equivalent to an Ontario license, which makes your transition smoother and spares you from going through Ontario’s graduated licencing system. Ask your old insurance company to provide a reference to your new Ontario insurer. This will go a long way to nab you a lower car insurance rate and you’ll have a better chance at securing a lower car insurance rate because you have proof of your insurance and driving history.

Having several traffic convictions will put you in the high-risk category with most insurance companies. If you’ve ever had your licence revoked, you are pushed further into the high-risk category. Being high-risk means that insurance companies think that the likelihood of you needing to file a claim is high. Since insurance companies are betting that they will need to provide you financial assistance, they will charge you more. It’s very hard to find cheap auto insurance rates in Toronto as a high-risk driver. There are, however, insurance companies that cater to high-risk drivers. Failing that option, you can purchase facility insurance, which is a pool that is funded by Canadian insurance companies to offer coverage to high-risk drivers.

Facts

• There's a lot of auto insurance fraud in Toronto. The Ontario Anti-Fraud Task Force discovered that 83% of all auto insurance fraud in Ontario happens in the GTA.
• The most popular vehicle for Toronto auto insurance shoppers is the Honda Civic. It’s actually a tie between two models of the Civic: the four-door LX and the four-door EX.
• It might surprise you, but Toronto's 401 is the busiest freeway in North America.
• Yonge and Dundas is the busiest intersection in Toronto, with 38.3 million pedestrians and 5.5 million cars on average passing through it annually.

Myths

• Car insurance calculators for Toronto drivers will give you an accurate quote. False. You won’t get an accurate quote by inputting a few facts about your driving history. Insurance companies need more data than that. Take three minutes to complete a quote and speak with a Toronto car insurance broker.
• Toronto roads are filled with bad drivers. False. Our 2019 user data shows that Toronto drivers are actually becoming better drivers in some respects. Our Toronto users have only been involved in about 3.3% of all Ontario car accidents, down from 5.3% in 2016. They also hold about 3% of all Ontario tickets, an increase of one percent since 2016.
• Toronto is the most congested city in Canada. False. That distinction belongs to Vancouver. Toronto is second, according to most surveys.
• Toronto has the highest insurance premiums in Ontario. False. Our data shows that Brampton has the highest auto insurance premiums in the province. The average Brampton premium is 42% higher than the Toronto average. A lot of this can be attributed to auto insurance fraud, a persistent issue in the suburb.

1. Be cautious around streetcars. When one of Toronto's ubiquitous streetcars stops to open its doors, don't pass between it and the sidewalk. You must come to a complete stop and wait for the doors to close before proceeding.
2. Yield for buses. Buses in Toronto must be granted right of way as they merge in and out of the curb lane to access stops.
3. Be aware of Eglinton Crosstown construction. Drivers going through the centre of town should watch out for ongoing construction on the Eglinton Crosstown Line. The light rail project, which cuts through the city along Eglinton Avenue all the way from Etobicoke to Scarborough, is snarling up traffic and extending commute times for drivers. Its estimated completion date has been extended to 2022.
4. Keep it under 50. Speed limits in Toronto are usually clearly marked, but on streets where no sign is present, the default limit is 50km/hr.