Ontario auto insurance changes take effect July 1, 2026: What the end of no-fault benefits means for accident victims

Canadian Lawyer recently spoke to Thomson Rogers LLP lawyers Darcy Merkur, Robert Ben and Allahnah Karmali about Ontario’s sweeping auto insurance reforms taking effect on July 1, 2026, and what they mean for accident victims across the province.

What is changing

Nine accident benefits that were previously mandatory are being removed from standard Ontario auto insurance coverage and moved to an optional à la carte model. Only medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits will remain automatic. Everything else, including visitor expenses, income replacement, funeral benefits and death benefits, will require drivers to opt in.

Merkur says the most consequential losses are visitor expenses for immediate family members and automatic income replacement benefits.

“There’s concern about increased pressure on injured people to return to work prematurely,” Merkur says. “That’s going to be challenging for most people.”

Who is most at risk

Ben says opting out may make sense for some people, such as those with generous employer coverage, but many Ontarians do not have that safety net.

“They’re the ones who may find themselves in a situation where they’re not able to work, they didn’t opt in, and they’ll have nothing,” he cautions.

Particularly vulnerable are the roughly 40 per cent of benefit claimants who do not hold direct insurance policies, including pedestrians, public transit users and members of households that do not own a vehicle, for whom the changes are not optional at all.

A shift toward litigation

Karmali says the reforms will fundamentally reshape how personal injury cases are handled in Ontario by shifting financial risk from accident benefits insurers to tort defendants and lengthening the road to recovery.

“The fundamental concept of accident benefits is supposed to be no-fault,” she says. “When you take away a lot of these key benefits, you’re dismantling the no-fault system Ontarians signed up for.”

How Thomson Rogers is responding

Ben says the firm has adapted to major changes before and will do so again.

“Each time there’s upheaval, we quickly adapt our case strategy, and the current reforms are no exception,” he says. “We will work within them and around them to continue getting the best possible results for our clients.”

Read the full article in Canadian Lawyer.