Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, so it’s no surprise the traffic here is thick. The census metropolitan area, in fact, is home to over 1,488,307 residents—many of which who own a car, and many of whom desire affordable auto insurance.
Affordable car insurance isn’t always easy to come by, so you need to work with the best auto insurance company in Ottawa. But which one is the best? What makes a company “best?” Below is a comparison by price of the best auto insurers in the city of Ottawa.
Our main findings
- Wawanesa has the best insurance rates for Ottawa drivers, with Aviva coming in at a close second. The rate for our best insurance company was 2.6% lower than Aviva.
- Despite Wawanesa being the best overall insurer for Ottawa drivers, CAA, Aviva, and SGI had the best rates for one of our driver profiles.
- For our high-risk market, we found the best rates to be with Jevco, with Echelon coming in at second place.
Rankings
Note that auto insurance is divided into two markets: standard and high-risk. Standard is any driver who has a semi-clean or entirely clean driving record, and high-risk is for those with poor payment histories, poor driving records, or who have made lots of claims in a short time. High-risk tends to sell for much higher, so we’ve divided our comparisons into high-risk and standard to make things more fair.
Table 1. Best regular market insurers for Ottawa drivers in 2024
- Wawanesa
- Aviva
- Intact
- CAA
- SGI
- Commonwell
- Economical
- Pembridge
- Travelers
Table 1. Best high-risk market insurers for Ottawa drivers in 2024
- Jevco
- Echelon
- Coachman
- Pafco
Meet our drivers
To give you an inkling of the kind of rates that Ottawa drivers might expect from the different insurers that service the city, we’ve generated our own list of eight fictional driver profiles—all with Ottawa postal codes. These drivers vary by gender, driving record, age, vehicle, etc., with the only constant being their city as well as coverage levels and type.
Here are our drivers:
- Amina, 21, single female, K1A, clean record
- Drives a 2015 HONDA CIVIC EX
- Mateo, 39, married male, K1G, clean record
- Drives a 2017 TOYOTA COROLLA LE
- Jane, 36, married female, K1B, 1 count speeding in 2021
- Drives a 2017 FORD FOCUS SE
- Dmitri, 57, single male, K1A, 1 count driving too close in 2023
- Drives a 2020 HYUNDAI ELANTRA SEL
- Nina, 28, single female, K1G, clean record
- Drives a 2021 NISSAN SENTRA SV
- Joseph, 34, married male, K1B, 1 minor at-fault accident in 2022
- Drives a 2016 CHEVROLET CRUZE LT
- Chloe, 49, married female, K1B, 2 counts at-fault accidents (2021 & 2022), 1 count alcohol-related license suspension in 2021
- Drives a 2022 KIA FORTE LXS
- Rajesh, 23, married male, K1G, 1 count DUI in 2021, 1 count speeding in 2023
- Drives a 2016 MAZDA CX-5 GRAND TOURING AWD
Quote comparisons
| Company | Amina (21) | Mateo (39) | Jane (36) | Dmitri (57) | Nina (28) | Joseph | Reg Avg. | Chloe | Rajesh | High Risk Avg. |
| Aviva | $2,761 | $1,916 | $1,969 | $1,961 | $2,203 | $1,865 | $2,112 | |||
| CAA | $4,054 | $1,704 | $1,711 | $1,908 | $2,172 | $1,995 | $2,257 | |||
| Commonwell | $2,932 | $2,147 | $2,442 | $2,252 | $2,560 | $2,566 | $2,483 | |||
| Economical | $4,236 | $2,277 | $2,143 | $2,388 | $2,629 | $2,287 | $2,660 | |||
| Intact | $3,022 | $1,712 | $2,067 | $2,800 | $2,081 | $1,942 | $2,270 | |||
| Pembridge | $4,593 | $2,588 | $2,469 | $3,783 | $3,616 | $2,422 | $3,245 | |||
| SGI | $3,539 | $2,025 | $2,021 | $2,676 | $2,075 | $2,048 | $2,397 | |||
| Travelers | $4,608 | $2,844 | $2,952 | $4,248 | $3,156 | $3,396 | $3,534 | |||
| Wawanesa | $2,467 | $1,937 | $1,793 | $2,033 | $2,270 | $1,837 | $2,056 | |||
| Coachman | $5,846 | $7,986 | $6,916 | |||||||
| Echelon | $5,888 | $6,877 | $6,382 | |||||||
| Jevco | $5,298 | $5,762 | $5,530 | |||||||
| Pafco | $6,751 | $10,223 | $8,487 |
Rates won’t stay the same
While we haven’t covered best insurance companies in Ottawa previously, suffice to say they might have been very different results than this year if we had. Why? Because insurers’ rates change over time. No one insurance company will ever really be the best option for drivers in Ottawa as claims’ data emerges or insurers drop their rates to remain more “competitive.” With time, these rankings may change—maybe not a whole lot, but what was best for Ottawa drivers one year may not be the best next year, or even in six months.
Find affordable car insurance in Ottawa with Mitch Insurance
Although we’ve ranked Wawanesa as the best insurer for drivers in Ottawa, they may not be the best for you. We’ll work with you personally to help you find the best auto insurance as an Ottawa driver. We work with over 70 of Canada’s top insurers, so there’s plenty of options for us to find you a great plan.
Looking for car insurance?
Speak with a Mitch Insurance broker today to get a quote on Ontario auto insurance.
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1-800-731-2228
