Best car insurance companies in Ontario for 2025 

Shopping for car insurance in Ontario offers a wealth of options from many different providers. But how do you know which insurance company is the best?

Here’s the total breakdown of the best auto insurance companies in Ontario for 2025, including the different markets of insurers that exist, how they compare by price, coverage, and more.

How do you judge the quality of an auto insurer?

Here are three ways you can rate an insurance company:

While there’s no true and tried way to tell which Ontario auto insurance company is “best”, we’ve compared our auto insurance partners on several key elements, including Google reviews, product offerings, size, and more.

We analyzed over 4,000 recent new auto insurance policies to see which companies our clients are choosing after reviewing their needs with one of our insurance brokers. CAA was the top choice, with 18% of drivers selecting them.

As we break things down by demographics, we see that the best insurer varies for drivers based on their unique circumstances. For drivers under the age of 40, Aviva was the most popular insurance company, with 13% of drivers choosing them.

Insurance companies have different risk appetites, and finding the carrier that is right for you requires careful consideration. Working with an insurance broker can make choosing the right provider easier, as they can review your situation and match you with the company that provides the coverage you need at the best possible price.

The average premium for car insurance is often greatly impacted by the age of the drivers listed on the policy. Younger drivers often pay more than double what senior drivers pay. This makes shopping for insurance even more important for young drivers to ensure they are getting the best rate for the coverage they need.

Every insurance company has a different target market, and a carrier can be “best” for you depending on several factors including who you are.

We analyzed what companies carriers our clients chose after speaking with a broker about their insurance needs and found the following:

When it comes to insurance, “cheap” and “affordable” have very different meanings. You’ll want coverage that balances price with great protection, meaning the right policy for you won’t always be the one with the lowest- cost. A good broker will help you find the best fit in terms of coverage, protection needs, ratings, service, and more.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when evaluating an insurance company:

The size of an insurance company can be a good indicator of two things: first, its pools of funds to continue paying out claims, and second, its ability to focus on building relationships with its customers.

There are benefits to both small and large insurers. Here’s a comparison:

Online reviews and ratings can be a great way to gauge what kind of service you might expect from an insurance company. However, take these with a grain of salt, because:

One important factor to consider when reading reviews is how easy it is to contact an insurance company in the event of a claim and whether they dispute coverage. If you notice a consistent pattern of complaints about this in reviews, it could indicate issues with the company’s reputation.

Many auto insurance companies have their own business specialty. Below, we’ve outlined different types of auto insurance to show what coverage is typically offered by providers in Ontario.

Standard market auto insurance companies provide coverage for policyholders with typical driving records and common vehicles. These vehicles are usually used only for pleasure or commuting, are not right-hand-drive, have no modifications, and the individuals driving them haven’t had more than three at-fault accidents or tickets on their record (or a combination of). This category makes up the bulk of auto insurers. Standard market carriers include providers that we work with such as Aviva, CAA, Commonwell Mutual, Travelers, Intact, Pembridge, SGI, Wawanesa, and Zenith. These companies also offer property insurance, and you can often save money by bundling your home and auto insurance policies together.

Someone may not have a poor driving record, but might own a highly collectible vehicle. With a collectable vehicle, you may be looking for insurance that allows for limited driving, and covers the vehicle at a specific appraised value. One of the most popular specialty insurance companies is Hagerty, which specializes in collectible cars.

High-risk auto insurance is for people who don’t qualify for standard market coverage due to their driving history or vehicle. Insurers that specialize in this include companies such as Coachman, Echelon, Jevco, Pafco, and Facility Association.

High-risk auto carriers usually only offer car insurance so you may not be able to bundle your home policy with them. However, your broker can place your home insurance with another provider, allowing you to keep both your home and auto policies with the same brokerage.

Most drivers remain with a high-risk car insurance company for one to three years and can return to the standard market once their driving record improves. Working with a broker who has access to both high-risk (or non-standard) and standard market companies will make your transition easier. Since they already know you, they can easily re-market you as your record improves.

Some common reasons a driver may be classified as a high-risk driver include:

Uber and Lyft have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, and an increasing number of people are driving for these ridesharing services. Whether you transport people or food, doing so for a business changes the usage of a vehicle and often standard market insurers won’t cover that type of risk.

Rideshare vehicle insurance companies exist to offer specialized coverage for these drivers. Many personal auto insurance policies specifically exclude ridesharing. However, some carriers such as Aviva, Economical and Intact allow ridesharing when using your vehicle with an approved ridesharing network.

It is important to talk to your broker if you plan to use your vehicle for ridesharing so that they can find the right company to provide the coverage you need.

If you use your vehicle for business purposes, such as hauling tools and equipment or transporting passengers, it no longer qualifies for standard market auto insurance.

Commercial auto insurance can be more or less expensive than standard auto insurance, depending on various factors. The biggest factor for heavy vehicles (anything over 4,500 kg) is prior experience. Most commercial auto insurers require three years of experience. You may be asked to provide letters of experience from previous insurance companies to verify your history.

Some commercial auto insurance carriers also cover farm vehicles. Great options for commercial auto insurance that we work with include Aviva, Economical, Commonwell Mutual, Wawanesa, Travelers, Intact, SGI, and Facility. Many of these companies also offer additional types of commercial insurance such as commercial general liability, allowing you to keep all your commercial coverage with the same provider.

At Mitch, we’re always ready to help find the best auto insurance company for you. We’ll make sure you get a great price, excellent service, and the coverage you need. Give us a call.