Compare car insurance quotes in Toronto for free.

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. As of early 2020, the average premium is $8,220.88 per year.

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. The average premium here as of 2020 is $2,410.43 per year.

Surprisingly, 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)

That doesn’t mean you'll find auto insurance at bargain bin prices in Toronto. On the contrary, car insurance in Toronto is still more 60% 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 are higher than in rural towns 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)

While none of these cities are especially rural, they are less populous than Toronto, which on average lends to cheaper auto insurance rates.

If you’re intent on living in Toronto and own a car, don’t sweat it 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 insurance company that offers the cheapest car insurance quotes to every driver that applies for a policy.

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.

Factors that are under your control include: the type of car you drive, your driving record, the amount 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’s not attractive to thieves and has good safety ratings will bring down your rate, as will being a defensive driver, limiting your mileage, and opting for a standard car insurance policy.

You can drive down your rates a bit further by making yourself more eligible for 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.

The next leg 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.

It depends on what you’re using your car for in Toronto.

Insurance companies factor in your annual mileage when calculating your rate. The more time a driver spends on the road, the higher 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.

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: 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

• 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.