Ontario's Optional Accident Benefits: What to Keep After July 1, 2026

Picture your auto renewal landing next summer with a question it has never asked before: which accident benefits do you want to keep? For Ontario drivers, that has never been a choice. After July 1, 2026, it is.

This is the province's biggest auto reform in over a decade. Nine accident benefits that have been automatic on every policy become optional — coverage you actively choose and pay for, or decline. We built an interactive tool that shows every benefit and what removing it really costs; this is the broker's-eye view of how to decide without gutting the protection that actually matters.

What's changing on July 1, 2026 (the 30-second version)

One category stays mandatory on every Ontario policy: medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care. Everything else in the accident benefits package — nine separate benefits — becomes optional.

Here's the part that calms most people down: if you do nothing, nothing happens. Your policy renews with the exact coverage you have today, at every renewal, unless you agree in writing to change it. There's no deadline, nothing expires on July 1, and you won't wake up under-insured because you missed a memo. The choice simply becomes available.

Is accident benefits coverage still mandatory in Ontario?

Medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care benefits stay mandatory for everyone, at the same limits as today: $65,000 for most injuries (with a five-year time limit in most cases) and $1,000,000 for catastrophic injuries. That is the floor no one can opt out of, and it covers the treatment OHIP does not — physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, attendant care and the like.

You can still buy that floor higher, too — to $130,000, or to $1,000,000 with no time limit for non-catastrophic injuries, and $2,000,000 for catastrophic ones. (More on why raising limits is often the smarter conversation than cutting them, further down.)

Every optional benefit, before and after July 1

These are the nine benefits moving to optional. Same coverage, same limits — the only change is that you now choose them:

• Income replacement — replaces lost income (70% of your gross) when injuries keep you from working. Today: up to $400/week. After: keep $400, increase to $600, $800 or $1,000/week, or drop it.
• Non-earner benefit — weekly support if you're a student or not working and an accident leaves you unable to carry on a normal life. Today: up to $185/week. After: keep or drop.
• Caregiver — pays for replacement care if you look after a child or other dependant and your injuries stop you. Today: pays only after a catastrophic injury. After: keep it catastrophic-only, broaden the trigger so it pays on any impairment (not just catastrophic ones), or drop it.
• Housekeeping & home maintenance — covers cleaning, yard work and (this being Ontario) snow clearing you can't do while you recover. Today: pays only after a catastrophic injury. After: keep it catastrophic-only, broaden it to pay on any impairment, or drop it.
• Lost educational expenses — reimburses tuition and books if an accident forces you out of a school program. Today: up to $15,000. After: keep or drop.
• Expenses of visitors — travel and lodging for family visiting you during recovery. Today: included. After: keep or drop.
• Damage to personal items — replaces glasses, hearing aids, dentures and clothing damaged in the crash. Today: included. After: keep or drop.
• Death benefit — a payment to your spouse and dependants if you're killed in an accident. Today: $25,000 to a spouse, $10,000 per dependant. After: keep, double it, or drop.
• Funeral benefit — covers funeral costs. Today: up to $6,000. After: keep $6,000, raise to $8,000, or drop.

Two other benefits you may see listed — Dependant Care and Indexation (which adjusts your limits for inflation) — were already optional add-ons before this reform, so they aren't part of the nine. They stay available to add. That's why you'll sometimes see eleven benefits on a chart and nine in the headlines: the nine are the ones actually changing on July 1.

The "passengers and pedestrians lose coverage" myth

This is the part the headlines keep getting wrong, and it worries people for no reason. You'll read that after July 1, passengers and pedestrians "may lose their accident benefits." That's only half true, and the missing half matters.

What narrows is the optional benefits. Starting July 1, those apply to the named insured, their spouse, their dependants, and the drivers listed on the policy — Ontario's regulator, FSRA, confirms this. The mandatory medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care core does not narrow. Anyone hurt in or by your vehicle — a passenger, a pedestrian, a cyclist — still has access to that core.

So no, your passengers aren't suddenly uninsured. The reform changes who carries the optional benefits, not who can be treated after a crash.

What dropping the optional benefits really saves

Here's the number that should anchor every decision. Based on the independent actuarial costing prepared for Ontario's regulator, removing all of the optional benefits saves roughly $92 to $136 a year — about $8 to $11 a month. And close to three-quarters of that saving is income replacement alone.

Now set that against what income replacement does: up to $400 a week (more if you've bought it up) for as long as a serious injury keeps you from working. I've sat with clients in Oshawa doing exactly this math, and it's lopsided. You're weighing the price of a couple of coffees a month against the floor under your mortgage if you're hurt and can't earn. (Our savings reality-check tool shows that trade-off to scale.)

Who should think hard before dropping each one

Optionality isn't a trap — for some drivers a few of these genuinely don't apply. The honest, situation-by-situation read:

• If you earn a paycheque: keep income replacement. It's the big one and the hardest gap to fill from anywhere else.
• If you're fully retired: income replacement generally only pays people who were working, so it's the one place dropping it can be rational. Caregiver, housekeeping, and the mandatory medical core usually still matter.
• If you're the primary caregiver for a child or an aging parent (a lot of Durham households are squarely in that sandwich generation): keep caregiver coverage.
• If you're a student or between jobs: the non-earner benefit is built for exactly that.
• If your family depends on you financially: death and funeral benefits are inexpensive and pay alongside any life insurance you already carry.

One caveat worth flagging: if you have disability coverage through work, you might wonder whether you still need income replacement. Maybe — but check with your benefits provider or plan administrator first, because the two coordinate in specific ways. Once you know where your workplace plan stands, we're glad to walk through the auto side. (Our self-assessment on the reform page helps you sort which benefits fit your life.)

Should you increase coverage instead of cutting it?

This is the conversation I wish more drivers were having. Optionality cuts both ways — the same reform that lets you drop benefits also makes it easy to raise them. The standard $65,000 medical and rehab limit runs out faster than people expect after a serious injury; buying up to $130,000, to $1,000,000 (which also removes the five-year clock), or to $2,000,000 for catastrophic injuries keeps treatment funded when it counts. Income replacement can climb to $600, $800 or $1,000 a week. You can also broaden caregiver and housekeeping coverage so they pay on any impairment, not only catastrophic ones — a real upgrade if you're the person everyone at home depends on. For a lot of Whitby and Bowmanville families, the right answer in 2026 is up, not down.

What this means for you

• Before July 1: nothing required. Your coverage continues automatically at renewal.
• At your next renewal: review your accident benefits with us — that's the moment the choices become real.
• Don't cancel mid-term just to shed a benefit; the pro-rata rewrite can erase the saving.
• You can change your mind: a declined benefit can be added back later and applies from that day forward — but never retroactively to an accident that already happened.
• Have workplace benefits? Confirm what they cover with your plan administrator before you touch income replacement.

The reform is genuinely good news if you treat it as a chance to right-size your coverage rather than a coupon to clip. If you want a plain-English read on how this fits your policy — or a refresher on how Ontario's no-fault system actually works and everything SABS covers — that's what we're here for. Have a look at the interactive 2026 reform breakdown, then talk to a Roughley auto insurance broker before your renewal.