Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits (SABS) are being overhauled. Starting July 1, 2026, benefits that were once automatic: income replacement, caregiver support, death benefits, and more, will become optional add-ons you must actively choose. If you don’t opt in, you won’t have them. The changes affect drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists across Ontario. Here’s what’s changing, who’s most at risk, and what you should do before the deadline.
At Howie Sacks & Henry LLP, we represent seriously injured accident victims every day. We see what happens when people don’t have the right coverage in place. Here’s what every Ontario driver, and every pedestrian, cyclist, and passenger, needs to know before these changes take effect.
Serious Accidents Happen in Ontario Every Single Day
Before we get into the insurance changes, consider this: according to Ontario’s preliminary 2024 Road Safety Annual Report (ORSAR), 27,854 fatal and personal injury collisions occurred in Ontario in 2024 alone. That’s more than 76 every single day. Of those, 617 people were killed, and 37,952 were injured. Among the injured, 1,781 sustained major injuries serious enough to require hospitalization.
These aren’t abstract numbers. They represent real people, commuters, parents, students, seniors, whose lives were suddenly and dramatically changed by a collision they didn’t plan for. And the most dangerous months? July through October, meaning the window immediately after these new rules take effect will coincide with some of the deadliest months on Ontario roads.
Speed is the leading cause of fatal collisions, accounting for 25% of all traffic deaths in 2024. Pedestrians made up 17.3% of fatalities, 107 deaths, despite representing only a fraction of road users. Motorcyclists accounted for another 92 deaths. Both groups share one thing in common: they have no vehicle structure to protect them. And under the new rules, they may also have far less insurance coverage.
The question isn’t whether an accident will happen in Ontario. It’s whether you’ll be protected when it does.
Most Accident Benefits Are Becoming Optional
Right now, your auto insurance policy automatically includes a broad set of Statutory Accident Benefits (SABS), financial supports that kick in if you’re hurt in a car accident, regardless of who was at fault. These include income replacement, caregiver support, housekeeping help, visitor expenses, and more.
After July 1, 2026, many of these benefits will no longer be automatic. Instead, they become “opt-in,” meaning you must proactively choose to add them to your policy, or you simply won’t have them.
The government has framed this as giving consumers more choice and making insurance more affordable. And yes, opting out of benefits may reduce your premium. But here’s the question they’re not asking loudly enough: what happens if you’re in a serious accident and those benefits aren’t there?
What Benefits Are Becoming Optional?
Under the new rules, you will need to specifically opt in to keep the following coverages:
Income Replacement Benefits (IRBs) If your injuries prevent you from working, IRBs replace a portion of your lost income. Without this benefit, a serious injury could mean losing your paycheque with no replacement in sight. Currently, this is automatic, up to $400/week, or $800/week with optional benefits. Among the 1,781 people hospitalized from collisions in 2024, many faced weeks or months away from work. Without IRBs, that gap falls entirely on you.
Non-Earner Benefits: If you’re a student, a stay-at-home parent, or not currently employed, and an accident prevents you from living a normal life, this benefit provides financial support while you recover. Students and unemployed individuals are particularly vulnerable if this benefit isn’t in place.
Caregiver Benefits: If you care for a child, an aging parent, or another dependent and your injuries make it impossible to continue, this benefit helps cover caregiving costs, up to $250/week for a primary caregiver. Without it, families in crisis are left scrambling.
Lost Educational Expenses: If an accident forces you out of school or an education program, this benefit can help recover the costs you’ve already paid. Losing a semester or a year of school has financial consequences that extend far beyond tuition.
Visitor Expenses: This covers reasonable travel and related costs for family members, a parent, sibling, or spouse, who visit you during your recovery. When you’re hospitalized or unable to get around, these costs add up fast.
Housekeeping and Home Maintenance (Catastrophic Injuries Only): If you’re catastrophically injured and can no longer maintain your home, this benefit helps cover those costs. After July 2026, this will require opting in.
Damage to Personal Items: If your clothing, prescription eyewear, hearing aids, or other personal items are damaged in the accident, this benefit helps cover the cost of repair or replacement.
Death and Funeral Benefits: If an accident takes your life, death benefits provide compensation to your family members, currently ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 depending on the relationship. Funeral benefits help cover burial costs. These will now require an opt-in. In 2024, 617 Ontario families lost someone to a road collision. Whether those families had access to death benefits can mean the difference between financial stability and crisis in the months that follow.
Who Is Covered Is Also Changing
Under the current system, accident benefits generally extend to a wide range of people injured in connection with a vehicle, including many pedestrians, cyclists, and passengers.
After July 1, 2026, the newly optional benefits will only apply to:
- The named insured (the policyholder)
- Their spouse
- Their dependants
- Persons specifically listed in the policy as drivers
This matters enormously when you consider who is actually being hurt on Ontario roads. In 2024, pedestrians accounted for 107 deaths and 421 major injuries, yet pedestrians by definition are not in a vehicle at all. Cyclists and certain passengers who don’t own a vehicle could find themselves without access to many of the benefits that previously supported their recovery.
If you are struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian or cyclist and you don’t own a car yourself, you could find yourself outside the coverage net entirely for many of these critical benefits.
What the Government Is Calling “Flexibility” – We Call “Risk”
The policy rationale behind these changes is straightforward: give consumers more choice, reduce premiums, and streamline the system. On paper, that sounds reasonable. In practice, we’ve seen what happens when injured people don’t have benefits.
Recovering from a serious accident takes time, often months or years. During that time, people need money to live on, care for their families, attend medical appointments, and access rehabilitation. Without income replacement, families fall behind on rent and mortgages. Without caregiver benefits, parents who are no longer able to care for young children have no financial help bridging the gap. Without non-earner benefits, students and unemployed individuals receive nothing while they struggle to heal.
Ontario’s roads saw more than 75 collisions causing death or serious injury every single day in 2024. The government is offering you a discount today in exchange for a safety net you may desperately need tomorrow.
There Is One Genuine Win for Accident Victims
To be fair, the July 2026 reforms do include one meaningful improvement for accident victims.
Under the current system, if you have other insurance, like a workplace health plan or private benefits, you’re required to exhaust those first before accessing your auto insurance accident benefits. This creates delays and mountains of paperwork at the worst possible time.
After July 1, 2026, your auto insurer becomes the “first payor” for mandatory medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care benefits. This means faster approvals and less bureaucratic back-and-forth when you need treatment quickly. For non-catastrophic injuries, the mandatory coverage is $65,000, and you no longer have to prove your other benefits are used up before accessing them.
This is a genuine improvement. But it doesn’t offset the risk created by making so many other critical benefits optional.
What Happens to Your Existing Policy?
Here’s important news: your auto policy will likely renew automatically with your current coverage and limits, unless you actively agree in writing with your insurer to decline the benefits that are becoming optional.
This means that if you do nothing, you may initially retain your existing coverage at renewal. But over time, policies will shift, and the default baseline will change. Many people may unknowingly agree to reduce their coverage when they see lower premium options without fully understanding what they’re giving up.
Our strong advice:
- Read your renewal documents carefully, don’t just click “accept.”
- Contact your insurance broker and ask specifically what is and isn’t covered under your policy after July 1, 2026.
- Keep written records of all conversations and correspondence with your insurer.
- Do not assume you have coverage that you haven’t verified.
Who Is Most at Risk?
Some Ontarians face greater exposure than others under these changes:
- Modest-income earners, those who may be tempted to reduce premiums by opting out, not realizing the financial devastation a serious accident could bring without income replacement. With nearly 20,000 Ontarians sustaining injuries serious enough to be treated in an emergency room in 2024 alone, the odds are not negligible.
- Students and unemployed individuals, who may not think non-earner benefits apply to them until it’s too late.
- Caregivers and parents, whose families depend on them being functional and present, and who may lose critical support if injured.
Pedestrians and cyclists are dramatically over-represented among those with serious outcomes. Pedestrians accounted for 17.3% of all road fatalities in 2024 and 421 major injuries, yet may now fall entirely outside the coverage umbrella under the new rules. - Motorcyclists, who accounted for 92 deaths and 293 major injuries in 2024, and who face heightened risk with fewer automatic protections in place.
- People who rely on others to manage their insurance, those who may not be aware that their coverage has changed, or that a family member’s policy may not extend to them.
What You Can Do Right Now
- Call your insurance broker before July 1, 2026. Ask exactly which benefits are on your policy and what will change at your next renewal. Ask about the cost to opt in to all the benefits that are becoming optional.
- Don’t shop purely on price. A lower premium may mean less coverage. Ask your broker to show you the difference in premium between a full-coverage policy and a stripped-down one, you may find the gap is smaller than you expect.
- Make sure everyone in your household is covered. Review who is listed on your policy and whether your family members, including driving-age children, are properly named.
- If you are a pedestrian or cyclist who doesn’t own a car, ask your household insurance advisor how you may be affected if you’re involved in an accident with a vehicle.
- If you’ve already been injured in an accident on or after July 1, 2026, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately. The new rules add complexity to determining what coverage exists, and getting proper legal advice early can make a significant difference.
We’ve Seen What Happens Without Adequate Benefits
At Howie Sacks & Henry LLP, we handle serious personal injury cases. We sit across from clients who are unable to work, unable to care for their children, unable to afford their medications, and we help them fight for every dollar they’re entitled to.
Ontario’s 2024 data tells us that nearly 2,000 people are hospitalized from road collisions every year in this province. We know what it looks like when the safety net isn’t there, the financial stress, the impossible choices, and the long road to recovery made harder because the coverage wasn’t in place.
These changes will make that harder for more people. That’s not cynicism, it’s what we see in our practice every day.
If you have questions about how these changes affect you, or if you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact us for a free consultation. We’re here to help you understand your rights and your options.
