Tools · Insurance
EVs cost more to insure. Here is how much more.
It is one of the most common questions from Canadians considering an EV, and the answer is usually given as a shrug. It should not be — the gap is large, it is measurable, and it is much wider here than in comparable countries.
Average annual premium, Canada
+36.8%to insure an EV rather than a gas car
Electric
$3,131
Gas
$2,289
Difference
$842 a year
By province
| Province | Electric | Gas | Difference | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia | $3,009 | $1,609 | $1,400 | +87% |
| New Brunswick | $2,769 | $1,705 | $1,065 | +62.4% |
| Alberta | $3,343 | $2,344 | $999 | +42.6% |
| Ontario | $2,933 | $2,464 | $469 | +19% |
These figures come from a private insurance broker, so they exist only where auto insurance is sold privately. Four provinces run public insurers instead:
- British Columbia — ICBC
- Saskatchewan — SGI
- Manitoba — Manitoba Public Insurance
- Quebec — SAAQ, for injury coverage
If you live in one of those, your rate is set by a public insurer and these numbers do not describe your market. The table stops where the data does.
The gap is a Canadian problem, not an EV problem
The same cars carry a much smaller penalty elsewhere. The usual explanation is that EVs are around 8% of the Canadian fleet — too little claims history for insurers to price confidently — combined with thin repair infrastructure, where a damaged battery pack can turn a repairable car into a write-off. Both should ease as the fleet grows, which is also why quoting a single figure for long is unwise.
About these numbers
Source: Sussex International / Surex, twelve months of Canadian premiums and claims data.
This is one broker's book rather than an industry-wide regulatory dataset. It is the best public Canadian comparison we found, and it is not the same thing as a market average. Treat it as a strong indication of the size of the gap rather than a precise figure for your own renewal.
Premiums depend on your driving record, postal code, the specific model and the insurer far more than on any national average. The useful thing here is the direction and the scale, which is what a national average can tell you and a quote cannot: budget for meaningfully more than the equivalent gas car, and get a quote before you commit to a purchase rather than after.