Introduction and scope

This document explains how Summit Commercial Solutions compiles, normalizes, and publishes tenant (renters) insurance price tables for Canada excluding Quebec (“ex‑Quebec”). Results produced under this methodology are used across our renters price tables and benchmarking notes. Quebec is excluded due to its distinct regulatory framework and distribution rules under the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). For transparency on compensation, see How We Get Paid.

What we measure

• Unit of measure: monthly premium in CAD before provincial sales taxes and fees.

• Product: personal tenant/renters insurance (contents + personal liability + additional living expenses), not landlord or condo owner policies. Typical components are described by Canadian direct writers (e.g., RBC Insurance, Aviva) and industry education sources. (See references: “RBC Insurance – Tenant insurance,” “Aviva – Why tenant insurance,” accessed 2025‑12‑18.)

• Geography: provinces and territories ex‑Quebec; selected major cities within those jurisdictions.

• Audience: consumers comparing typical market prices; brokers and partners seeking consistent inputs for procurement.

Standardized quote profile (control scenario)

To ensure cross‑market comparability, we collect quotes using the following baseline parameters unless otherwise noted:

• Residence: apartment in a multi‑unit building; non‑heritage; primary residence; non‑basement unless city notes specify.

• Contents limit: $50,000 CAD; Additional Living Expenses: 20–40% of contents, as presented by the quoting source; Personal Liability: $1,000,000 CAD.

• Deductible: $1,000 CAD (or next available nearest standard value).

• Occupant: single adult; non‑smoker; employed; no prior property losses in 5 years; no pets declared; no business operations from home.

• Security and discounts: no monitored alarm; no sprinkler credit; no auto bundling; no group/association affinity discounts; paperless and EFT options accepted when they do not change quoted premium.

• Policy form: comprehensive/all‑risk where selectable; otherwise the broadest standard tenant form offered by the source.

• Quoted term: annual premium converted to monthly by dividing by 12 when only an annual value is shown; “from $X/month” marketing claims are not used as data points unless a bindable quote matches the stated price for the control scenario.

Data sources we monitor

We sample both multi‑insurer aggregators and direct writers that publicly provide bindable or near‑bindable online quotes for tenant insurance ex‑Quebec. Examples include:

• Aggregator/comparison: LowestRates.ca (renters insurance quotes; multiple Canadian providers).

• Direct writers with online tenant quotes: Square One Insurance Services (advertises “from $15/month”), Sonnet Insurance, TD Insurance, RBC Insurance, Aviva Canada. (All examples verified as of 2025‑12‑18.) These examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; participating sources can change by quarter based on availability, uptime, and eligibility rules.

Collection windows and refresh cadence (2025)

We capture quotes quarterly to balance market freshness with stability. Collection windows avoid major holidays and typical underwriting freeze periods.

Notes:

• Shadow windows are used to re‑query a 10–20% sample for stability checks and drift analysis.

• Outside cycle updates are issued only for material market changes (e.g., rating engine revisions affecting >10% of sampled quotes in a jurisdiction).

Geographic sampling and roll‑ups

• Included jurisdictions (ex‑Quebec): AB, BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, ON, PE, SK, NT, NU, YT.

• City selection: for each province/territory we include the capital (if materially populated) and ≥2 additional high‑population centres when reliable quoting is available.

• Location granularity: quotes are captured at the Forward Sortation Area (FSA; first three characters of the postal code) level to represent multiple neighbourhoods per city. Canada Post defines the FSA as the first three characters identifying a major geographic area; we use 3–5 representative FSAs per large city when possible. (Reference: “Canada Post – Postal codes: FSA and LDU,” accessed 2025‑12‑18.)

• City value: median of all bindable quotes across all sampled sources and FSAs for that city in the collection window.

• Provincial/territorial value: median of included city medians within that jurisdiction. Where only one city can be sampled with quality (e.g., some territories), we publish that city’s value and mark the roll‑up as “single‑centre.”

Data processing and normalization

• De‑duplication: identical premiums from the same carrier surfaced via multiple channels (e.g., aggregator and direct) are counted once per FSA.

• Outliers: we trim the top and bottom 5% of quotes within each city window when ≥20 quotes are available; otherwise we apply Hampel filtering at 3σ using median/MAD.

• Taxes and fees: published values exclude provincial sales tax and policy fees unless these charges are embedded in the displayed premium.

• Currency and rounding: CAD; displayed to the nearest whole dollar; medians are computed unrounded, then rounded at publish time.

• Quote integrity: only bindable (or “ready‑to‑bind after contact”) quotes using the control scenario are included; marketing banners such as “as low as $X/month” are cited as context only and are not used as data unless directly confirmed by a bindable quote from the same source and scenario.

Exclusions, limitations, and caveats

• Quebec: all Quebec postal codes and quotes are excluded due to a distinct regulatory regime under the AMF and differences in distribution rules. (Reference: “Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec) – overview,” accessed 2025‑12‑18.)

• Eligibility filters: sources that require group/affinity eligibility, auto bundling, or non‑standard deductibles for their lowest price are normalized back to the control scenario; if normalization is impossible, the quote is excluded.

• Product heterogeneity: coverage definitions (e.g., special limits, water endorsements) vary by insurer; our control scenario prioritizes broadly comparable core coverages but cannot equalize every endorsement difference.

• Not a recommendation: figures are descriptive, not prescriptive; consumers should obtain personalized quotes. Direct writers describe typical tenant insurance coverages (contents, liability, additional living expenses) and note that tenant insurance is not legally mandatory nationwide, though landlords may require it in leases. (References: “RBC Insurance – Tenant insurance,” “Sonnet – Tenant insurance,” accessed 2025‑12‑18.)

Quality controls

• Source health checks: monitor aggregator and carrier quote engines for uptime anomalies; re‑run failed sessions within the same window.

• Drift detection: if the median for a city shifts >15% between primary and shadow windows without documented rating changes, we hold publication for review.

• Reproducibility: we retain anonymized input sets (FSAs used, timestamps, scenario flags, and quote IDs where available) for audit.

References (non‑exhaustive; accessed 2025‑12‑18)

• Canada Post, “Postal codes – FSA and LDU definitions.”

• RBC Insurance, “Tenant Insurance – How tenant insurance protects you.”

• Aviva Canada, “Do I need tenant insurance?”

• LowestRates.ca, “Renters insurance – compare quotes.”

• Square One Insurance Services, “Tenant insurance – from $15/month.”

• Sonnet Insurance, “Tenant insurance for renters.”

• TD Insurance, “Tenant insurance – get a quote.”

• Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec), overview of mandate and scope.

Transparency and privacy

• Compensation disclosure: see How We Get Paid.

• Data and privacy: we collect only the minimal location and scenario inputs needed to obtain price indications; see our Privacy Policy.

Versioning and contact

• Methodology ID: renters‑method‑2025‑exQC‑v1.3

• Last reviewed: 2025‑12‑18

• Next scheduled refresh: begins 2026‑01‑05 (Q1 2026 collection window)

• Questions or corrections: Contact us and reference the Methodology ID above.