Income replacement, caregiver benefits, and non-earner benefits
Starting July 1, 2026:
These benefits will become optional.
After July 1, existing policies will renew with their current coverages and limits. If you wish to remove the optional coverages, speak with your insurance provider.
For new policies, you will be able to purchase or decline these optional coverages when you apply.
This collection of accident benefits provide financial assistance to people who are unable to fulfil certain regular duties (such as work, caregiving, or attending school) due to a car accident.
Income replacement
Income replacement helps cover lost wages for people who need to take time away from work because of their injuries. The default benefit covers up to 70% of a person’s gross income, capped at $400 per week. There are options available to raise that cap to $600, $800, or $1000 per week.
If someone has disability benefits through their employer, it’s possible to co-ordinate those benefits and the income replacement benefit to avoid shortfalls.
Non-earner benefits
Non-earner benefits provide compensation to people who are injured in an accident, but under different circumstances than income replacement.
There are two possible conditions that someone might qualify for non-earner benefits. In either case, they must have suffered a complete inability to carry on a normal life because of the accident. In addition to that, they must meet either of the conditions below:
- They do not qualify for income replacement.
- They were enrolled in elementary, secondary, or post-secondary education full time, or they completed their education less than one year prior to the accident and weren’t employed (or self-employed) in a position that reflected their education.
In either case, non-earner benefits are only available for up to two years following the accident. The benefit will pay $185 per week to eligible people for the duration that they’re unable to carry on their normal life.
Non-earner benefits aren’t available for people who choose to receive the income replacement benefit instead.
Caregiver benefit
The caregiver benefit will help cover the cost of hiring a caregiver if a primary caregiver is injured in an accident. The conditions to qualify for the caregiver benefit are:
- The caregiver has to live with the person in need of care (someone under 16, or who requires care due to a physical or mental incapacity).
- The caregiver is the primary caregiver for the person in need of care, and wasn’t paid for their caregiving activities.
For example, a caregiver may be a single parent, a stay-at-home parent, or someone taking care of a disabled family member or elderly parents. To qualify, they mustn’t receive any payment for providing care.
The caregiver benefit is limited to $250 per week for one dependant, plus $50 per week for each additional dependant. This benefit is available either for catastrophic injuries or for any injury — check your policy documents to be sure which injuries you’re covered for.
The caregiver benefit is available for up to two years following the accident.
Death and funeral expenses
Starting July 1, 2026:
These benefits will become optional.
After July 1, existing policies will renew with their current coverages and limits. If you wish to remove the optional coverages, speak with your insurance provider.
For new policies, you will be able to purchase or decline these optional coverages when you apply.
If the absolute worst should happen and someone dies as a result of a vehicle accident, the death and funeral expenses benefit will compensate the deceased person’s family.
Death benefit
This benefit provides a one-time payment if an insured person dies as a result of an accident. This applies if they die within 180 days following the accident, or three years if they were continuously disabled by the accident during that time.
The payments include:
- $25,000 to the deceased person’s spouse
- $10,000 to each of the deceased person’s dependants, and former spouses to whom they have a financial obligation
There is an option to increase these benefits to $50,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Funeral benefit
This benefit will cover funeral expenses if an insured person dies as a result of a car accident. By default, coverage is limited to $6,000, but this limit can be increased to $8,000.
Other accident benefits
Starting July 1, 2026:
Most of these benefits will become optional.
After July 1, existing policies will renew with their current coverages and limits. If you wish to remove the optional coverages, speak with your insurance provider.
For new policies, you will be able to purchase or decline these optional coverages when you apply.
Accident benefits don’t stop there — there are several other benefits available.
Payment for other expenses
There are a number of expenses that accident benefits will cover for an injured person. These coverages include:
- Lost educational expenses will provide up to $15,000 to cover expenses for tuition, textbooks, equipment, or room and board that the insured already paid for an educational program that they can’t continue due to their injury.
- Expenses of visitors covers reasonable expenses for family members or certain other people to visit the insured person while they receive treatment for their injuries. This benefit is available for up to 2 years following the accident if the injury was non-catastrophic, or indefinitely if the injury was catastrophic.
- Housekeeping and home maintenance is a benefit that will cover (predictably) housekeeping and home maintenance costs if the insured person suffers an injury that prevents them from doing the unpaid housekeeping and maintenance tasks they normally did. This benefit is limited to $100 per week. It’s available either for catastrophic injuries or for any injury — check your policy documents to be sure which injuries you’re covered for.
- Damage to personal items covers reasonable expenses to replace the insured’s medical or dental equipment (prescription glasses, hearing aids, prostheses, etc.) that was damaged in the accident. It also covers expenses to replace clothing damaged in the accident.
Dependant care benefit
This is an optional benefit that isn’t automatically included in your accident benefits.
The dependant care benefit will pay some additional costs necessary to care for the insured person’s dependants following an accident. To qualify, the insured must have been employed at the time of the accident and must have sustained an impairment as a result of the accident. They also must not be receiving the aforementioned caregiver benefit.
This benefit is limited to $75 per week for one dependant plus $25 for each additional dependant.
Indexation benefit
This is another optional benefit that drivers in Ontario can choose to add to their car insurance policy. The indexation benefit protects weekly benefit payments from lost value due to inflation after a claim. The adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index, so the amount that each payment will change is different each year.
The benefits whose limits can be indexed are:
- Weekly income replacement benefit
- Weekly non-earner benefit
- Weekly caregiver benefit
- Attendant care benefit
- Medical and rehabilitation benefits
The adjustment to these limits happens on January 1 each year.
Commonly asked questions
How long are accident benefits paid in Ontario?
Each type of benefit has its own time limitations. Income replacement, non-earner, and caregiver benefits are typically available for up to 104 weeks (2 years) after the accident so long as the insured person continues to suffer impairment from their injuries. However, the income replacement benefit isn’t available for the first week of the disability. The non-earner benefit isn’t available for the first four weeks of the onset of disability.
Medical, rehabilitation, and caregiver benefits are available for up to 260 weeks (5 years) after the accident so long as they’re needed, though this limit doesn’t apply for catastrophic injuries.
Who can apply for accident benefits in Ontario?
Some accident benefits are available to anyone injured in a vehicle accident in Ontario: drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and bystanders.
Starting July 1, 2026, optional accident benefits will only be available to the named insured, their spouse, the dependants of either person, and drivers specifically listed on the policy.
What are the optional accident benefits in Ontario?
Currently, the main optional accident benefits are the dependant care benefit, and the indexation benefit. There are also several options available for increasing the limits of the standard benefits, or expanding the types of injuries covered
On July 1, 2026, all benefits except for Medical, Rehab, and Attendant Care will become optional. Income replacement, non-earner, caregiver, and many other benefits will be optional after this date.
What’s the difference between a catastrophic and non-catastrophic injury?
A catastrophic injury or catastrophic impairment is one that results in paralysis, amputation of a limb, loss of vision in both eyes, traumatic brain injuries, or similar impairments that seriously compromise a person’s ability to continue their normal life. The Schedule of Accident Benefits describes the precise definitions and limitations of catastrophic injuries.
Why are Ontario’s accident benefits changing?
Ontario’s government passed legislation to change accident benefits with the goal of improving flexibility for drivers. Some people have access to similar coverages through employer or private insurance plans. By making some benefits optional, Ontarians have the option to reduce their car insurance costs by declining coverages that they may have access to elsewhere, or that they simply don’t want.
Anyone opting out of accident benefits should carefully consider whether the cost savings are practical compared to the loss of coverage. Remember, if someone opts out of a benefit, they won’t have access to that coverage even if another driver is at fault for an accident — they’d have to pay out-of-pocket or pursue legal action (at their own cost).
This change will take effect on July 1, 2026. After this date, existing policies will renew with their existing coverages, options and limits. Policyholders can contact their insurance provider to add, change, or remove optional accident benefits. Someone buying a new policy after July 1 will be able to buy or decline optional coverages during the application process.
How can I prepare for the accident benefit change?
Your car insurance provider will send you more information about these changes and what you’ll need to do before July 1.
For most people, it will be best to keep the soon-to-be-optional accident benefits to ensure they have no gaps in their coverage and to avoid financial impacts that they might not predict.
However, you can prepare by taking a look at which coverages you might have from sources other than your car insurance policy. If you are considering opting out of any benefits once they become optional, make sure you’ve reviewed all of the coverage you have access to from other sources. Even if accident benefits overlap with your other coverage, there are good reasons to keep them.
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About the expert: Daniel Mirkovic
A co-founder of Square One with 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, Daniel was previously vice president of the insurance and travel divisions at the British Columbia Automobile Association. Daniel has a bachelor of commerce and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He holds a Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker (CAIB) designation and a general insurance license level 3 in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
