One of the frustrations of shopping for a car is not knowing what insurance will cost you for a particular make and model, unless you call your agent or broker and ask before making your purchase.

The difference in annual insurance premiums could be several thousand dollars from one vehicle to another.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada launched a free online tool that may help reduce some of this frustration.

The IBC’s new How Cars Measure Up tool lets you look up the frequency and cost of insurance claims of various vehicle makes and models and compare vehicles side by side.

The tool doesn’t give you a money figure. Instead, it shows you the frequency and costs of various drivers of insurance premiums, including collision, comprehensive, direct compensation property damage, accident benefits and theft frequency coverage. This information can give you an understanding of whether a vehicle will have higher premiums than others if it’s got a high frequency and cost of claims.

“While there are many factors that impact the cost of insurance premiums, such as your driving record, your vehicle’s make, model, year, value and potential repair costs also have a major impact on insurance prices,” said Rob de Pruis, national director, consumer and industry relations, IBC, in a news release. “In general, the less likely your car is to be stolen, damaged or in a collision, as well the less expensive it is to repair, the less you will pay to insure it. How Cars Measure Up helps drivers make informed decisions when buying or leasing a vehicle.”

How Cars Measure Up has data for vehicles from model years 1997 to 2025.

Not every vehicle sold in Canada is included. All makes and models in the data had at least 1,500 vehicles insured between 2019 and 2024.

The information in the tool is based on data collected from most auto insurers across Canada.

How Cars Measure Up is available on the IBC’s website.

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