A new report says that car insurance rates across Canada fell for the first time in years in 2020, and could continue to fall in some provinces in 2021.
Hellosafe.ca, an insurance comparison website financed by Insurtech Venture Capital firm Blue, says they analyzed data from 2017 to 2019 as well as rate changes for each quarter of 2020.
Their report, released on Thursday, showed a net increase in rates in every province and territory from 2017 to 2019.
The largest increases occurred in Nova Scotia, with an increase of 17.58 per cent over the three-year period, and Quebec, with an increase of 17.01 per cent.
Rates were highest overall in British Columbia, with an average annual rate of $1,832, and Ontario, at $1,634.
Hellosafe.ca says that 2020 marked a a slowdown in auto insurance rates, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to their report, Q4 2020 saw auto insurance decrease in Canada by 2.6 per cent. Some regions still saw growth in this period, however, including Alberta with an 8 per cent increase and Atlantic Canada with a 2.6 per cent increase.
“An analysis of the car insurance rates changes in Canada shows quite clearly that the Covid crisis was a breakthrough, putting an end to the ever-growing rate increases of the past several years,” said Antoine Fruchard, director in chief at Hellosafe.ca.
The website is predicting drops in 2021 rates for most provinces, including Ontario and B.C.
The predicted drop in auto insurance in Canada’s westernmost province is tied to planned changes by the provincial government to ICBC.
“We could see prices on the rise again in 2021, with the sanitary context expected to come back to normal step by step throughout the year,” said Fruchard.
“Nevertheless, in some provinces like Ontario or B.C., some insurance players have already planned to lower their rates, which is good news for consumers.”
