2026 Canadian insurance rate trends
Premiums compared across age, city and province
Canadian insurance premiums rose across the board in 2026, but the increases were anything but even — province, age and city moved in very different directions.
Term life: age vs. monthly premium
$500k · T20 · 非吸烟男性
Auto: annual premiums by province
Home: annual premiums across BC cities
1. Auto: the province gap is widening
Alberta saw the steepest auto increase at +21.3%, Ontario +11.8%. Higher repair costs, parts inflation and accident frequency are pushing rates up faster than premiums can adjust.
Quebec remains the cheapest market thanks to its government no-fault system, while Ontario drivers continue paying the highest absolute premiums.
2. Life: age is the whole story
Term life pricing is a smooth curve driven almost entirely by age, sex and smoking. The cost of $500k T20 roughly doubles between 30 and 50 — waiting is expensive.
Women pay less for life (longer life expectancy) but more for critical illness (higher cancer incidence) — the two curves cross, which surprises most shoppers.
3. Home: BC cities differ by hundreds
Within BC, average home premiums vary by hundreds of dollars between Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria and interior cities — driven by rebuild costs, fire protection and weather risk at the postal-code level.
Our charts are generated live from the rate engine and open property data, so the comparisons stay current as rate tables update.
FAQ
Which province is cheapest for auto insurance?＋
Quebec is consistently cheapest thanks to its government no-fault system; Manitoba and Saskatchewan are also below the national average.
Is 2026 a good time to buy life insurance?＋
Yes — life rates are still low by historical standards, and they only increase with age. Every year of delay locks in a higher premium.