MyChoice Identifies Ontario Cities Where Drivers Should Exercise Extra Caution
This winter has reminded Ontario drivers just how quickly road conditions can deteriorate. Heavy snowfall, icy highways, and reduced visibility have made driving across the province particularly challenging in recent weeks.
On January 26 alone, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers responded to nearly 200 collisions across the Greater Toronto Area within a 24-hour period. Events like this highlight how vulnerable Ontario’s road network can become during severe weather, and how quickly collisions can accumulate.
At MyChoice we like to keep an eye on road safety issues. Especially now that winter has arrived it’s an ongoing challenge. That’s why we dug out our annual study where we rank the most and least safe municipalities in Ontario to drive in.
Using over 200,000 car insurance quotes collected through MyChoice.ca since 2020, including detailed accident and infraction records, we updated our rankings to identify where drivers face the highest and lowest levels of risk across the province in 2026. Our methodology is based on the weighted averages of accidents and infractions (i.e. distracted driving, speeding) with a 70/30 importance ratio, creating a comprehensive scoring system from 0 to 5. This approach emphasizes the relative severity of accidents while accounting for traffic violations as a predictive factor for road safety.
Key Findings from the Study
- Toronto continues to rank as Ontario’s safest municipality for driving, earning a score of 4.6 out of 5. As in our previous analysis, the city shows strong alignment between accident rates and driving behaviour indicators. Notably, CBC reported that in 2025, Toronto recorded its lowest number of traffic fatalities in the past decade.
- Barrie is now the most dangerous city for driving in Ontario, knocking Brantford off the top of the list, mainly due to an uptick in accidents and not infractions.
- Persistently high collision rates have also led Kingston, Burlington, and Bradford to fall in the standings from previous years among mid-sized cities.
- Brampton has an improved ranking, which raises questions about potential underreporting of accidents. It has a surprisingly low rate of accidents given its rate of driving infractions, a trend that is anomalous compared to other cities.
Collision Rates Remain High Across Ontario
While there is some improvement in certain areas, the percentage of drivers with collisions on their record in Ontario has increased from 10.78% in 2024 to 11.06% in 2025, a 0.28 percentage-point rise.
MyChoice CEO Aren Mirzaian provides practical advice for Ontario drivers in light of the findings: “Drivers can’t control the regional risk trends, but they can control how they drive. Following defensive driving principles, such as leaving extra space, slowing down in poor conditions, and minimizing distractions, remains one of the most effective ways to stay safe on the road. Winter tires are also a smart seasonal upgrade that can qualify you for an insurance discount.”
A single at-fault accident in Ontario can nearly double premiums at renewal.
The Potential Impact of Speed Camera Removal
Another structural change that may influence future rankings is Ontario’s decision to move forward with banning automated speed cameras.
- Cities with a high number of speed cameras such as Brampton, Toronto, and Mississauga were among those with the lowest number of tickets issued by police.
- Speeding tickets in smaller municipalities with few or no cameras, including Brantford, North Bay and Timmins, were close to double the provincial average.
Although speed camera tickets do not appear on insurance records, their presence may act as a behavioural deterrent.
If municipalities with historically high accident rates begin to show increases in crash volumes or roadside infractions, insurers may revisit how those areas are assessed from a risk perspective.
Final Thoughts
Ontario’s largest city was determined to be its safest place to drive using our insurance data, but several of the mid-sized cities have higher driving risks based on elevated accident frequency.
By highlighting these safety rankings MyChoice hopes to encourage safer behaviour amongst motorists, and promote awareness of the importance of minimising risks to protect Ontario drivers on the road.
Raw data:
| City | % of Drivers with ≥1 Accident on Record | % of Drivers with ≥1 Infraction on Record |
|---|---|---|
| Barrie | 14.54% | 12.41% |
| Burlington | 14.22% | 11.44% |
| Brantford | 12.30% | 15.13% |
| Kingston | 14.12% | 10.29% |
| Belleville | 12.03% | 15.12% |
| Ajax | 13.28% | 11.72% |
| Bradford | 13.89% | 10.07% |
| Thunder Bay | 12.34% | 12.43% |
| St. Catharines | 12.78% | 11.05% |
| North Bay | 11.42% | 14.19% |
| Hamilton | 12.39% | 11.33% |
| Sarnia | 12.27% | 11.52% |
| Peterborough | 10.77% | 14.62% |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 13.24% | 8.68% |
| Oshawa | 11.75% | 10.95% |
| Sudbury | 11.87% | 10.10% |
| Pickering | 11.34% | 10.99% |
| Brampton | 9.36% | 15.12% |
| Windsor | 11.45% | 9.79% |
| Kitchener | 10.91% | 9.90% |
| Guelph | 10.71% | 10.06% |
| London | 11.51% | 7.89% |
| Milton | 11.07% | 8.78% |
| Oakville | 10.93% | 8.51% |
| Whitby | 10.84% | 8.41% |
| Richmond Hill | 11.37% | 7.04% |
| Scarborough | 9.04% | 11.34% |
| Waterloo | 10.39% | 8.03% |
| Niagara Falls | 9.79% | 8.56% |
| Ottawa | 8.65% | 10.22% |
| Etobicoke | 9.54% | 7.50% |
| Mississauga | 10.00% | 6.29% |
| Markham | 8.35% | 7.99% |
| Toronto | 6.52% | 7.17% |