A guide for companies expanding into Canada

Insuring your Canadian expansion.

A home-country or global program likely won’t cover Canadian operations cleanly on its own. Here is what changes.

10provinces
3territories
12workers’ comp boards
10%federal excise tax

How a global program meets Canada

One policy, 13 rulebooks.

A master policy written abroad reaches Canada and splits: each of the 10 provinces and 3 territories sets its own workers’ comp board, basic auto system and privacy law.

Tap a province or territory to see its rules.

Public basic auto
Hybrid
Private

Head office abroad. One master policy.At the border it splits into 13 rulebooks.12 comp boards, 4 public auto systems.And a 10% federal tax on foreign cover.

What changes, rule by rule.

A licence in one province or territory is not a licence in another.

Workers’ comp

Twelve public boards.

Register with each board where you hire. In Ontario, the WSIB deadline is 10 calendar days after your first hire. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut share one board.

Auto liability

Compulsory everywhere. Public in four places.

BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have a public insurer; Quebec splits cover between the SAAQ and private insurers. A global auto program won’t satisfy it.

Tax and placement

Rules differ by province.

Nova Scotia prohibits direct placement with unlicensed insurers. BC can charge provincial tax even when no licensed insurer offered the cover. Penalties in Quebec can reach 200%.

Every province and territory →

Public basic autoHybridPrivate

Ontario

Workers’ comp board: WSIB
Basic auto insurance: Private
Private-sector privacy law: PIPEDA

Insuring your Canadian expansion.

One policy, 13 rulebooks.

What changes, rule by rule.

Twelve public boards.

Compulsory everywhere. Public in four places.

Rules differ by province.

The guide.

How Canadian insurance is regulated

What’s mandatory

Province and territory at a glance

The global-program tax trap

Core coverages to put in place

Before you open

Expanding into Canada?