Ontario’s Property and Casualty Insurance Economy: The Economic Contribution of the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry in 2019–20

Ontario’s insurance industry plays a major role in Ontario’s economy. This issue briefing looks at how—and how much—it contributes to the province’s GDP and employment figures.

Document Highlights

The property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry directly contributed $9.6 billion to Ontario’s real GDP in 2019, dipping to $9.1 billion in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Add in the industry’s indirect contributions to other segments of the economy and the figure rises to $14 billion in 2020.

In 2020, the P&C insurance industry directly supported over 51,200 jobs in Ontario. For every 100 jobs directly supported in the P&C insurance industry, a further 97 were supported in other industries. Including this spinoff activity, the P&C insurance industry supported just under 101,000 jobs in Ontario.

In 2020, Ontario’s P&C insurance industry directly contributed over $3.2 billion in sales tax revenues, the bulk of which—$2.8 billion—was earmarked for the province. The P&C insurance industry also directly contributed a further $894 million in personal income taxes and $931 million in corporate taxes. Of that, just over $795 million was destined for the province.

Including spinoff activity, a total of nearly $8.3 billion in taxes can be traced back to Ontario’s P&C insurance industry, with $4.8 billion going toward the province of Ontario. Overall, the impact on taxes was up from 2019, when $7.7 billion could be traced to Ontario’s P&C insurance industry, with over $4.4 billion directed to the province of Ontario.