Please note that Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the transition to GISA’s new Statistical Service Provider may be found at Updated General FAQs

All licensed automobile insurers operating in Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Yukon must report specific data. The Automobile Statistical Plan defines the data, the format in which the data are to be reported and the timeframes for reporting to GISA via GISA’s statistical service provider, the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

In Ontario, data for Commercial Liability insurance are also reported. The Ontario Commercial Liability Statistical Plan defines the data reporting requirements. (Note that CLSP filing requirements will be retired upon the conclusion of the 2022 insurer filings. However, CLSP exhibits for 2022 will still be made available in 2023.)

The manuals for these statistical plans are available on this website.

A set of reports using aggregate information is prepared annually based on the data reported to each of these statistical plans. These reports are described in the   GISA Catalogue of Statistical Information available on this website. These reports can be purchased as electronic files, using the Exhibit Order Form. GISA will be making some of these exhibits available online at no cost. The electronic files often contain more detailed information than the corresponding printed reports.

A selection of High Level Data has been extracted from the Actual Loss Ratio exhibits for Private Passenger Automobile for Alberta, Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and the Territories and are presented in tabular and graphical formats. They can be found at Statistical Information. In addition, GISA will be making some of these exhibits available online at no cost.

The reports are prepared and published from April to December, for the previous year’s data. For example, data collected for 2020 will become available in published reports in 2021, with the exception of some data collected in the first six months of the year, which will be published from October to December of the same year. The   GISA Catalogue of Statistical Information is updated annually in March and includes information on when the reports are scheduled to be published.

A glossary of common insurance terms is available in the   GISA Catalogue of Statistical Information and in the Key Definitions, both available on this website.

Claims can take several years to be fully resolved and closed by the insurance company. Claims costs include both the payments that have been made for the claim and a reserve or estimated amount for how much more will be paid to close the claim. Claims costs on a calendar year or financial year basis will reflect all transactions that occurred in the specified calendar year, regardless of when the accident occurred. “Calendar Year” claims costs include payments made during the calendar year, plus amounts owing on claims at the end of the calendar year less amounts owing for claims at the end of the prior year. “Accident Year” results present the claims costs for the year in which the accident occurred. As new information becomes available, accident year claims costs will be restated until the claim is finally closed. Accident Year statistics can be matched with the premiums in effect at the time the loss occurred to provide a measure of rate adequacy.

The data reported through the two statistical plans are used by both the insurance industry and provincial or territorial government regulators. The main purpose for collecting this data is to provide premium and claim information to support fair rates. The data enable regulators to ensure that insurance premiums are adequate and not excessive or unfairly discriminatory, and to monitor market structure and performance. Insurance companies use the data to make better and more informed pricing decisions based on aggregate industry experience.

At this time, GISA does not make available unpublished data to organizations or individuals other than participating provincial or territorial regulators. New data elements added to the statistical plans will not be published until the data is validated for accuracy and there are a sufficient number of years of experience.

GISA data, like any other data, have limitations. The following are some of the limitations:

GISA undertakes regular reviews of the data collected to ensure that it meets regulators' requirements and remains relevant to industry stakeholders. For example, each participating jurisdiction has made legislative changes in recent years with respect to automobile insurance, with these changes reflected in the Automobile Statistical Plan. Another example is the emergence of ride sharing and ride hailing services, which has resulted in the addition of new vehicle uses to the data collected.

A further important change is the announcement of the retirement of the Ontario Commercial Liability Insurance Statistical Plan (CLSP). As indicated in a December 2, 2022 communique, CLSP filing requirements will be retired upon the conclusion of the 2022 insurer filings. (However, CLSP exhibits for 2022 will still be made available in 2023.)

Moving forward, the International Financial Reporting Standard 17 (IFRS 17) will be the Canadian accounting standard as of January 1, 2023. GISA is reviewing the new requirements and will make the necessary changes to the reporting requirements for the Automobile Statistical Plan and Financial Information collection.