On July 1, 2026 Ontario made income replacement, non-earner and caregiver benefits optional. Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care remain mandatory on every policy. If you were hurt on or after that date, what you can claim depends on what optional coverage was purchased.
What actually changed
For years, an Ontario auto policy came with a standard bundle of accident benefits. If a collision stopped you working, income replacement was there. If you were a student or unemployed, non-earner benefits were there. If you cared for a dependant, caregiver benefits were there.
That bundle no longer exists. Those three are now optional coverage, purchased separately. The benefits that remain mandatory are medical, rehabilitation and attendant care.
Who this hits hardest
Anyone whose policy was bought on price. Optional coverage is the first thing dropped when someone is comparing quotes, and most people buying insurance are not imagining themselves off work for eight months.
It also hits people who do not own a car at all. Someone without access to their own auto policy, including pedestrians and cyclists, may now only be able to claim the mandatory medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits.
The change nobody mentions
Auto insurance now pays first for medical and rehabilitation costs, ahead of an extended health plan through work. Medication is the exception.
That reordering matters more than it sounds. It changes which insurer you are dealing with, which forms you file, and which limits you are spending down first.
What to do about it
If you have not been hurt, read your policy now and find out which optional benefits you actually bought. It is a ten minute job and it is the only time you get to change the answer.
If you have been hurt since July 1, the first question in your claim is what the policy carries. Everything else follows from that.
Deadlines that apply to you
These are the dates that end claims. Check them first.
Tell your own auto insurer about the collision as soon as you reasonably can, and no later than seven days.
Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, O. Reg. 34/10, s. 32(1)
Once the insurer sends you the application package, the completed application for accident benefits (the OCF-1) is due back within 30 days.
Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, O. Reg. 34/10, s. 32(5)
Ontario changed accident benefits on July 1, 2026
- Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care remain mandatory on every policy.
- Income replacement, non-earner and caregiver benefits are now optional coverage you have to buy.
- Auto insurance now pays first for medical and rehabilitation costs, ahead of an extended health plan. Medication is the exception.
- Someone without their own auto policy, including pedestrians and cyclists, may now only be able to claim the mandatory medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits.
- Medical benefits
- Rehabilitation benefits
- Attendant care benefits
- Income replacement benefits
- Non-earner benefits
- Caregiver benefits
If you were hurt on or after July 1, 2026, what you can claim depends on what optional coverage was bought. Check the policy before assuming a benefit is there.
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, changes to Statutory Accident Benefits coverage effective July 1, 2026
Questions we get every week
No. A claim is generally governed by the rules in force when the collision happened. If you were hurt before July 1, 2026 the previous framework applies to your claim.
Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care remain mandatory on every Ontario auto policy.
Your policy declaration page lists the optional coverages purchased. Your broker or insurer can confirm it, and it is worth getting the answer in writing.
Where this applies
Accident Benefits
Accident benefits are paid by your own auto insurer regardless of who caused the collision.
Read moreCar Accidents
After a car accident in Ontario you usually have two separate claims running at the same time: accident benefits from your own insurer regardless of who caused the crash, and a claim against the driver at fault.
Read moreCyclist and Pedestrian
Pedestrians and cyclists hit by a vehicle in Ontario can claim accident benefits even though they were not driving.
Read more