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Canada’s aging housing supply may be to blame for escalating home insurance premiums, according to a new report by MyChoice Financial Inc.
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“Older homes with deferred maintenance pose higher risks for things like water damage, electrical fires, or structural failure,” Aren Mirzaian, chief executive of the insurance technology company, said in the report. “And when the cost of repairs goes up, homeowners may delay fixing things, which increases risk and ultimately pushes premiums higher.”
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MyChoice suggests Canadians may soon see incentives that target older home renovations or retrofit discounts to help bring the insurance risks down.
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The report highlights three Canadian cities at particular risk: Regina, Ottawa and London. All three have a high percentage of older homes needing repairs, high renovation costs and insurance inflation of more than 10 per cent.
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In Regina, renovation inflation hit 6.7 per cent.
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Insurance inflation is the highest in Ottawa, where premiums have climbed 14.3 per cent and 20 per cent of the homes were built before 1960.
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Vancouver and Toronto have been the epicentre of Canada’s soft housing market, but their newer housing stock and low renovation inflation provide some stability, with insurance premiums in the two cities up 9.94 per cent and 8.12 per cent, respectively.
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Overall, home insurance inflation outpaced the 2025 consumer price index of 2.1 per cent in all but two provinces: New Brunswick, where insurance inflation was minus 0.25 per cent, and Prince Edward Island, where insurance inflation was 0.69 per cent.
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Insurance companies were already hiking rates as losses grow from more frequent extreme weather events. Weather-related events resulted in a record $8.5 billion in insurance payouts in 2024, though that dropped to $2.4 billion in 2025, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
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MyChoice suggests homeowners tackle small repairs early, ask for an inspection and search for repair quotes or bundle packages.
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