Ontario auto insurance premiums rose 14% since 2017: auditor general

Ontario's auditor general says average auto insurance premiums in the province increased by 14 per cent between 2017 and 2021, to $1,642.

Bonnie Lysyk says in her annual report today that Ontario has the highest private passenger auto insurance premiums in Canada, despite having one of the lowest rates of car crash injuries.

She notes that several other reports over the last decade have made the same finding, but the government has not directed the regulator to take any significant action.

Lysyk says, for example, that Ontario could follow British Columbia and Saskatchewan's lead and implement a mandatory certification regime for vehicle repair businesses to protect against fraud.

She also found that auto insurance rates vary so widely in the province that the exact same person driving the same car would pay $1,200 a year in London, Ont., but $3,350 per year in Brampton, Ont.

The government directed the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario to start reviewing that framework earlier this year.