What insurance does a small business need in Ontario?

Ontario law requires insurance on any vehicle registered to the business, under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act. No other commercial coverage is compulsory, though leases, lenders and client contracts commonly require commercial general liability before work begins. Sutherland Insurance places business insurance across Ontario from its Guelph office.

Part of the Sutherland Insurance guide to business insurance in Ontario.

The short answer

There are two different questions here: what the law requires, and what a business is contractually obliged to carry. The legal list is short. The contractual list is usually longer.

What is required, and what is commonly carried?

Required: auto insurance on vehicles registered to the business. Commonly required by others: commercial general liability, named on a lease or a client contract. Commonly carried by choice: property, business interruption, cyber, and professional liability where the business sells advice rather than a product.

WSIB coverage is a separate obligation and is not insurance arranged through a broker. Whether a business must register depends on its industry and its workforce.

Professional liability applies where the business sells advice, design or a service. The exposure there is a client's financial loss rather than physical damage to property.

What does this mean for an Ontario business owner?

The contracts a business has already signed usually decide more than the law does. A lease, a lender's terms and a client's supplier agreement each state required limits.

Reading those requirements is the starting point, because a policy that does not meet a contractual limit leaves the business in breach as well as underinsured.

Nothing on this page recommends a coverage or a limit. Sutherland Insurance sets out what each covers and what the Ontario market offers.

These are the options. The right mix depends on the situation

The coverages above are the options generally available on an Ontario business insurance policy. Which of them belongs on any particular policy depends on the property, the people insured, the limits selected and the individual insurer's wording. The policy document itself always governs. A licensed Sutherland Insurance broker can walk through the options and build a plan around your circumstances. Call 519-822-0160 or request a quote.

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