Which province tops personal auto, property premium hikes?

Average premiums for both personal auto and personal property lines in Canada increased year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, with Alberta seeing the highest jumps, according to Applied Systems’ latest rating index.

In personal auto, average premiums in Alberta increased 21.3% year-over-year. Personal property in the province witnessed a 16.2% increase from 2025 Q1 to 2026 Q1, says the index released Tuesday.

The results come as Alberta prepares for its Care First auto insurance reforms on Jan. 1, 2027. The reforms, which will include unlimited access to certain types of accident benefits, are expected to create savings for consumers by reducing legal costs in the system.

From a personal property perspective, Alberta continues to be largely affected by Cat losses.

“With severe weather and rising claims costs continuing to shape the personal lines market, the Q1 2026 results highlight a growing divergence,” says Steve Whitelaw, senior vice president and general manager at Applied Systems Canada, in a press release. “Alberta continues to lead rate increases across both auto and property, while moderation is beginning to emerge across both lines in provinces like Quebec.”

The wider picture

For the country as a whole, the average personal auto premium rate change was up 11.1% versus the second quarter of 2025. Across provinces, Alberta saw the highest jump at 21.3%, followed by Ontario at 11.8%, the Atlantic provinces at 9.6% and Quebec at 4%.

In personal property, average premiums increased 8.6% year-over-year. Alberta topped the list at 16.2%, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba (11.2%), the Atlantic provinces (10.8%), Ontario (6.2%), Quebec (4%) and British Columbia (1.6%).

Quarter over quarter, personal property premiums also increased in all provinces except B.C. and Quebec. The average rate across Canada was up 2.4% in 2026 Q1 from 2025 Q4. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Ontario, and the Atlantic provinces saw quarterly increases of 5.4%, 2.9%, 2.8% and 2.7%. Meanwhile, B.C. decreased 0.6%, while Quebec decreased 3.2%.

The good news is that the average personal auto premium rate generally decreased quarter-over-quarter, although only slightly. Across Canada, the average quarterly decrease was 0.8%. The highest drop was Quebec at 6.5%, followed by the Atlantic provinces (1.8%) and Ontario (0.2%).

Alberta was the outlier, with a quarterly increase of 7.4%.

Applied’s quarterly rating index represents more than 80% of the brokerage market in Canada and 675 insurer rating plans written by brokers, the tech vendor says in the report. Applied says data analyzed includes more than 30 million quotes per quarter, using the average of the three best final premiums of each risk quoted.

Jason Contant

Jason has been an award-winning journalist with Canadian Underwriter for more than a decade, including the past three years as associate editor and, before that, as digital editor for seven years.