Motorcycle Insurance

What is motorcycle insurance?

Motorcycle insurance is an Ontario automobile policy written on a motorcycle rather than a car. It carries the mandatory automobile coverages required under Ontario law, and adds optional physical-damage coverage on the machine itself. Premiums are influenced by rider experience, the licence class held, the motorcycle itself, and other underwriting factors.

The distinction that matters most to an Ontario rider is that a motorcycle is not a separate class of insurance product. It is an automobile under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, and motorcycles are insured under Ontario's automobile insurance system, subject to the same statutory accident benefits regime and the same reform to those benefits that took effect on July 1st, 2026.

What differs is the exposure the insurer is rating. A motorcycle provides significantly less occupant protection than a passenger vehicle, which changes the severity profile on an injury claim. It is ridden seasonally in Ontario rather than year-round, and it is more readily stolen than a car. Those differences, not a different body of law, produce a different premium and a different set of endorsements.

How much does motorcycle insurance cost in Ontario?

The factors that move an Ontario motorcycle insurance premium, in approximate order of influence, and why insurers look at each one.

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Is motorcycle insurance required in Ontario?

Ontario law requires insurance on every registered motorcycle. Under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, a motorcycle ridden on an Ontario road carries third-party liability of at least $200,000, statutory accident benefits and uninsured automobile coverage. Riding without valid insurance in Ontario carries fines and licence suspension.

Since July 1st, 2026, nine accident-benefit categories are optional in Ontario, while medical, rehabilitation and attendant care remain mandatory at $65,000 for a non-catastrophic injury and $1,000,000 for a catastrophic one. That reform applies to a motorcycle policy exactly as it applies to a car policy.

Which optional coverages apply to a given motorcycle policy depends on circumstances that vary from one rider to the next:

• Whether the motorcycle is financed or leased, as lenders and lessors set their own physical-damage requirements.
• Whether the machine is ridden year-round or laid up for part of the Ontario season.
• The replacement cost of the machine relative to the deductible under consideration.
• Whether accessories, riding apparel and aftermarket parts are to be scheduled.
• Whether a passenger is carried, which the licence class held governs.
• Which accident benefits the rider elects following the July 1st, 2026 Ontario reform.

What situations does motorcycle insurance commonly address in Ontario?

Motorcycle policies are arranged for a wide range of riding circumstances across Ontario, and the coverage available differs in each. The situations below are common among Sutherland Insurance clients in Guelph and across the province, and each one changes which markets will write the risk.

• A Guelph rider whose motorcycle is stolen overnight from a driveway rather than a locked garage.
• A rider who drops a machine at low speed in a parking lot, damaging fairings and a mirror but injuring nobody.
• A rider struck by another vehicle, where the automobile coverages that respond are determined by Ontario's automobile insurance system and the policy wording.
• A rider carrying a passenger who is injured, where statutory accident benefits respond to both people.
• A rider who lays the machine up from November to April and wants theft and fire coverage to continue through the winter.
• A rider moving up from an M2 to a full M class, or adding a second machine to an existing policy.

How do I get motorcycle insurance from Sutherland Insurance?

A quote is requested online or by calling 519-822-0160. A licensed Sutherland Insurance broker records the licence class held, the machine, the storage arrangement and any lay-up period, and compares more than 10 personal-lines carriers. Coverage is bound on the date chosen.

1. Request a quote online, or call Sutherland Insurance at 519-822-0160.
2. A licensed broker records the licence class held, the year it was issued, the driving record and any other Ontario auto policy in the household.
3. The broker records the make, model, model year and engine displacement of the machine, together with any accessories to be scheduled.
4. Storage, annual distance and any lay-up period are documented, since all three change which markets will write the risk.
5. Sutherland Insurance compares the more than 10 personal-lines carriers it holds contracts with and presents the options side by side.
6. Coverage is bound on the date chosen, and proof of insurance is issued for the plate.

How do Ontario motorcycle licence classes affect insurance?

Ontario licenses motorcycle riders in stages. A rider passes an eye test and a written test at age sixteen or older to receive an M1, then progresses through M2 to the full M class. Insurers rate the class held and the time spent in it separately from any car licence.

The Ministry of Transportation sets the conditions that attach to each level, and those conditions are why the class matters to an insurer: they define what the rider is permitted to do on the road. Two further conditions narrow the class: L covers mopeds, motorized scooters and other limited-speed motorcycles, and M covers three-wheeled motorcycles. Both are rated differently from a full-speed machine.