My Driving Discount: Telematics for Ontario Drivers
Sutherland Insurance is a fifth-generation independent brokerage in Guelph, Ontario that places usage-based auto insurance across the province. Ontario usage-based programs are filed as discount-only, so driving data can reduce a premium and cannot be used to increase the filed rate. Sutherland Insurance compares more than 10 personal-lines carriers.
Key takeaways
- Usage-based insurance programs filed in Ontario are discount-only: the driving data collected can reduce a premium and cannot be used to raise the filed rate.
- Ontario auto rates and every usage-based program applying to them are filed with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario before an insurer can use them.
- Telematics data is collected through a mobile app or a plug-in device and commonly measures braking, acceleration, cornering, speed, distance and time of day.
- Enrolment is voluntary, a driver can withdraw from the program, and participation does not change what the auto policy covers.
- Who it is for
- Ontario drivers holding a personal auto policy with an insurer running a telematics program
- Programme insurer
- Intact Insurance
- Legally required in Ontario
- No, participation is voluntary
- Regulatory position in Ontario
- Discount-only; data cannot be used to increase the filed rate
- Regulator
- Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, which approves every rate filing
- How data is collected
- A mobile app or a plug-in device fitted to the vehicle's diagnostic port
- What is measured
- Braking, acceleration, cornering, speed, distance driven and time of day
What is usage-based auto insurance?
Usage-based auto insurance is an optional program in which an insurer measures how a vehicle is actually driven and applies a discount based on the result. Data is gathered through a mobile app or a device plugged into the vehicle. In Ontario these programs are filed as discount-only, so the data reduces a premium and does not raise the filed rate.
The rating logic differs from a conventional policy in one respect. Conventional auto rating uses proxies (age, postal code, vehicle, years licensed, claims history) to estimate how a person is likely to drive. A telematics program measures the driving itself, then applies the discount its insurer has filed against that measurement.
What can an Ontario usage-based auto insurance policy cover?
What a policy can cover
- An enrolment discount applied to the auto premium at the point of joining the program
- A performance discount applied at renewal, calculated from the driving data collected over the term
- The same third-party liability, statutory accident benefits, direct compensation property damage and uninsured automobile coverage as any Ontario auto policy
- The same optional coverages as any Ontario auto policy, including collision, comprehensive and specified perils
- Driver-facing trip feedback in the app, including scored trips and a running discount estimate
- Voluntary withdrawal from the program at any point, without a change to the coverage on the policy
Commonly excluded under standard Ontario usage-based auto insurance wordings
- Any increase to the filed rate based on telematics data, which Ontario programs are not filed to apply
- A guaranteed discount amount, since the figure is calculated from the data collected over the term
- Coverage differences of any kind: the program changes the premium, not the wording of the policy
- Commercial vehicles and vehicles used for delivery or ride-hailing, which fall outside a personal auto policy
- Enrolment where the insurer holding the policy does not run a telematics program
- Data collected outside the program's stated method, such as a device removed from the vehicle mid-term
Exclusions vary by insurer and by policy form; the issued policy governs.
How much does usage-based auto insurance cost in Ontario?
The driving behaviours a telematics program measures in Ontario, and the direction each one moves the discount.
| Measured behaviour | Direction it moves the discount | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hard braking events | Downward as events rise | Frequent hard braking correlates with following distance and attention. |
| Rapid acceleration | Downward as events rise | Acceleration events correlate with collision frequency in insurer data. |
| Cornering force | Downward as events rise | Sharp cornering is a filed indicator of aggressive driving. |
| Speed relative to the posted limit | Downward as time over the limit rises | Speed is the single largest driver of collision severity. |
| Time of day driven | Downward for late-night driving | Overnight hours record higher collision rates than daytime hours. |
| Total distance driven | Downward as distance rises | Exposure to collision is a direct function of kilometres travelled. |
| Consistency across the term | Upward with steady results | Programs weight sustained performance over a single strong month. |
| Handheld phone use, where measured | Downward when detected | Distraction is measured directly by app-based programs. |
Is telematics insurance mandatory in Ontario?
Telematics participation is not required by Ontario law. Auto insurance itself is required on every registered vehicle under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act. Usage-based programs are optional add-ons to that policy, filed with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario as discount-only, and a driver can decline to enrol or withdraw later.
Which program is available, and what it produces, depends on circumstances that vary from one household to the next:
- Whether the insurer holding the policy runs a telematics program at all, since not every Ontario insurer does.
- Whether the program uses a mobile app or a plug-in device, and whether the vehicle has a compatible diagnostic port.
- How far the vehicle is driven each year, and at what times of day.
- Whether several drivers share the vehicle, and how the program attributes trips between them.
- The driver's comfort with the data the program collects and how the insurer states it will be used.
- Whether the existing policy already carries discounts that the program's structure interacts with.
What situations does usage-based auto insurance commonly address in Ontario?
Telematics programs are taken up in a wide range of driving circumstances across Ontario, and the outcome differs in each. The situations below are common among Sutherland Insurance clients in Guelph and across the province, and each one changes what a program measures and how the discount lands.
- A newly licensed G2 driver in Guelph with no insurance history, whose conventional rate is built entirely from proxies.
- A retired driver covering a few thousand kilometres a year, well below the average the filed rate assumes.
- A commuter who moved to remote work and now drives a fraction of the distance the policy was rated on.
- A household where a parent and a young driver share one vehicle and trips are attributed between them.
- A driver rated on a postal code with high claim frequency whose own driving record is clean.
- A driver whose vehicle predates the standard diagnostic port a plug-in device requires.
How do I enrol in a telematics program through Sutherland Insurance?
A quote is requested online or by calling 519-822-0160. A licensed Sutherland Insurance broker confirms which of the available Ontario insurers run a telematics program, how each one measures driving, and what enrolment and performance discounts each has filed.
- Request a quote online, or call Sutherland Insurance at 519-822-0160.
- A licensed broker confirms the vehicles, the drivers and the distance driven each year.
- Sutherland Insurance identifies which of the more than 10 personal-lines carriers it holds offer a telematics program.
- The broker sets out how each program collects data, what it measures, and the enrolment and performance discounts filed.
- The policy is bound, the app or device is set up, and the performance discount is applied at the following renewal.
What makes Sutherland Insurance different from a direct insurer?
When a claim happens, Sutherland Insurance acts for the client with the insurer, and an in-house claims representative is available on any claim. Sutherland Insurance is an independent brokerage and compares 10+ Canadian insurers rather than selling one company’s product. A person answers the phone at Sutherland Insurance, 519-822-0160, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Frequently asked questions
Do usage-based insurance apps actually lower premiums in Ontario?
Ontario usage-based programs are filed as discount-only, so the driving data collected can reduce a premium and cannot be used to increase the filed rate. Most programs apply an enrolment discount immediately and a performance discount at renewal, calculated from the term's data. The size of each discount is set in the insurer's filing and differs by insurer.
Can telematics data increase my auto insurance rate in Ontario?
Usage-based programs filed in Ontario are discount-only, so the data collected is not used to raise the filed rate on the policy. A driver whose performance discount is smaller at renewal than it was in the previous term pays more than the discounted figure, and never more than the filed rate itself. Program terms differ by insurer.
What data does a telematics program collect in Ontario?
Ontario telematics programs commonly measure hard braking, rapid acceleration, cornering force, speed relative to the posted limit, distance driven and time of day. App-based programs also detect handheld phone use on some platforms. What each program collects, how long it retains it, and how it is used are set out in the insurer's program terms.
Is telematics worth it for Ontario drivers?
The outcome depends on the driving the program measures and on the discount the insurer has filed. Programs are discount-only in Ontario, participation is voluntary, and a driver can withdraw. Drivers covering low annual distances and those with short insurance histories are the profiles where filed telematics discounts commonly move the premium the most.
Does joining a telematics program change what my policy covers?
No. A telematics program is a rating and discount mechanism attached to an Ontario auto policy, not a coverage change. The third-party liability, statutory accident benefits, direct compensation property damage and uninsured automobile coverage remain exactly as written, along with any optional collision and comprehensive coverage on the policy.
Can I leave a telematics program partway through the term?
Participation in an Ontario usage-based program is voluntary and a driver can withdraw. Withdrawing removes the performance discount going forward, and insurers differ on how the enrolment discount is treated for the remainder of the term. The specific terms are set out in each insurer's program documentation, and the issued policy governs.
How many insurers does Sutherland Insurance compare for telematics?
Sutherland Insurance compares more than 10 personal-lines carriers for Ontario auto business and identifies which of them run a telematics program. It is an independent brokerage licensed by the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario. It is not tied to any single insurer.
Which insurer runs the My Driving Discount programme?
My Driving Discount is Intact Insurance's usage-based programme for Ontario drivers. Sutherland Insurance places it alongside the telematics programmes offered by the other markets it holds contracts with, so a driver is not limited to one insurer's version when comparing what a policy would cost.
Do many Ontario insurers offer telematics programmes?
Across the markets Sutherland Insurance holds contracts with, roughly a third currently offer some form of telematics or usage-based programme. Each insurer files its own discount and measures driving differently, so the same driver can qualify for materially different savings depending on which programme the policy sits with.
Get your usage-based auto insurance quote
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Get your usage-based auto insurance quote Call 519-822-0160
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