St. Catharines city is the largest in the region of Niagara and is in Southern Ontario. Also known as the ‘Garden City’ the population is an estimated 131,400 as per the 2011 census. The manufacturing industry is prominent and has changed the city landscape to a great extent. Due to the location between Fort Erie and Greater Toronto Area, it also serves as a major telecommunication point between U.S. and Canada. The major freeways that connect the city are the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 406. St. Catharines Transit Commission provides public transit throughout the city.
Traveling by car and bus are the most dominant forms of transportation here when compared to travel by trains. We did a survey to know car insurance rates by some insurers in the city and used a sample profile. We also checked out the car insurance rates at various neighborhoods in the city.
Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Quotes in St. Catharines
| Rank | Auto Insurance Company | Annual Rate* |
| 1 | The Cooperators | $1,549 |
| 2 | Belairdirect | $1,580 |
| 3 | Travelers (Dominion Product) | $1,635 |
| 4 | Travelers (Chieftain Product) | $1,716 |
| 5 | Gore Mutual | $1,761 |
| 6 | Desjardins Insurance | $1,884 |
| 7 | Economical | $1,894 |
| 8 | Aviva | $1,998 |
| 9 | CAA | $2,024 |
| 10 | Wawanesa Insurance | $2,067 |
| 11 | Intact | $2,119 |
| 12 | Coachman | $2,124 |
| 13 | Pembridge | $2,211 |
| 14 | Allstate | $2,399 |
| 15 | Echelon | $3,010 |
Most Expensive Auto Insurer in St. Catharines
We conducted a survey of car insurance rates by major insurers in St. Catharines. Echelon Insurance quoted the highest annual car insurance rate at $3010. The difference between their quote and the lowest rate was by $1461 and that was a variation of 48% in price. Echelon provides insurance to high-risk auto consumers who are denied coverage by the regular market. Allstate Insurance quoted the next highest price at $2399.
Cheapest Auto Insurer in St. Catharines
As per the survey, The Co-operators insurance quoted the lowest car insurance price at an annual cost of $1549. They also provide the optional coverage of accident forgiveness for 6 years based on certain terms and conditions. Belairdirect insurance gave the next lowest quote at a difference of $31 annually followed by the Travellers Group insurance.
Car Insurance in St. Catharines Neighborhoods
| Neighborhoods | Car Insurance can be as low as* |
| Grimsby | $1069 |
| Lincoln | $1069 |
| Port Dalhousie | $1069 |
| Lake Port | $1069 |
| Grantham | $1069 |
| Lakeshore | $1069 |
| Port Weller West | $1069 |
| Weller park | $1069 |
| Facer | $1069 |
| Downtown | $1126 |
| Secord Woods | $1126 |
| Haig | $1126 |
| Grapeview | $1126 |
| Western Hill | $1183 |
Most Expensive Areas For Car Insurance in St. Catharines
The Western Hill area in St. Catharines had the highest price for car insurance at an annual cost of $1183. This neighborhood has bordered on the north with Highway 406 and on the south with Regional Road 72. The east side has borders with Twelve Mile Creek and Louth Street is on the west border.
The next highest car insurance for 4 areas had the same price at an annual rate of $1126. These areas are Downtown, Secord Woods, Haig, and Grapeview. The busiest area is the Downtown side bordered by Highway 406, Geneva Street, Niagara Street, and Welland Avenue.
Least Expensive Areas For Car Insurance in St. Catharines
The survey revealed that around 9 neighborhoods had the same rate for car insurance prices at an annual cost of $1026. These areas included Grimsby, Lincoln, Port Dalhousie, Lake Port, Grantham, Lakeshore, Port Weller West, Weller Park, and Facer.
Road Safety Plans In St. Catharines
The Transportation & Environment Service department is responsible for monitoring, maintaining, repairing, and replacing the city street system. They work to implement an active transportation network to connect the public with trails, waterfronts, and parks. The operations division of this department also takes initiative to develop complete streets and performs the following regularly:
- Cleaning of streets, removal of snow, re-grading, and cleaning of ditches are done.
- Potholes are patched to maintain the roads by Niagara Region. These are filled with cold-mix asphalt in winter and then proper repairs are done in spring.
- Winter maintenance includes sheet topping done for asphalt roads.
- Concrete sidewalks, new culverts, and curbs are also installed by the city. Around 500 km of sidewalks owned by the city are monitored and repaired. The spot repair and sidewalk inspection program takes care of the curbs on the roadside for pedestrian safety. When a curb or sidewalk is reported as damaged, the city staff examines it to assess the extent of the damage. They place a temporary patch in that spot or grind the sidewalk to even out the damage. The area of the patch is noted to be further repaired permanently when the annual curb repair work is done.
Traffic Signs & Signals
The City takes care of the repair, replacement, and maintenance of traffic signs installed on all streets owned by the city. Also, the Niagara Region takes care of the monitoring and maintenance of all traffic signals installed on streets owned by the city of St. Catharines.
Niagara Regional Police Service
St. Catharines is part of the Niagara Region and hence the Regional Police actively works in making the roads safer for all users by enforcement of traffic rules and educating the public. Some of the programs that are actively in force include the Drive Safe Program, Seatbelt Safety, Distracted Driving, and Bicycle Helmets.
They also launched a Road Safety Committee in 2003 to cut down the number of motor vehicle collisions in the Niagara Region. Their campaign focused on vehicles, drivers, roadways, and sharing of information between all users. They worked together with members from CAA Niagara, Niagara Region Public Health, MTO, and Ontario Provincial Police to crack down the numbers for traffic collisions. Their survey showed that collisions due to distracted driving were more than the number of collisions due to impaired driving and speeding violations. The younger age group of 16 to 25 years had major offenders and not surprisingly this is also the age group that has higher insurance rates when compared to mature drivers.
Data For Motor Vehicle Collisions, 2010-2015
| Collision Type | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Fatal | 15 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
| Serious Injury | 34 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 21 |
The Niagara Regional Police Service collected the above data and presented it in the Annual Report for 2015. The data gathered over a 5-year span showed that there is a decrease in the number of fatalities when compared to the collisions causing serious injuries. The numbers for serious injuries have been on a downward trend since 2013. The number of fatalities showed a decrease between 2013 to 2014 but increased by 1 in 2015.
* Methodology
For the survey, we assumed that the auto insurance premiums are for a 35-year-old man who owns his car Honda Civic model 2012. The credit rating is good and he has basic liability coverage. The annual mileage ranges from 5,000 to 8,000 with no traffic tickets in the last 5 years.
Insurance quotes shown here are examples only. The lowest cost insurance provider depends on numerous factors related to the car, driver, location, and driving conditions. There’s no guarantee that the lowest rate provider in these examples produces the lowest rate for every driver.
About the Author: Ashley Miller
