Your All-Season Tires Won't Get the Discount. Even the Snowflake Ones.
Ten days to the deadline most insurers quietly use.
Every Ontario insurer has been required to offer a winter tire discount since 2016.
It's usually 2% to 5% off the annual premium.
Most people who qualify never claim it, and a good number of people who think they qualify don't.
What actually counts
Two conditions, both strict:
A full set of four dedicated winter tires. Not two. Not a mix.
The Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol on the sidewall
All-season tires marked M+S do not qualify, regardless of how they perform.
All-weather tires are where people get caught. Many carry the snowflake symbol and still don't qualify, because a number of insurers require a separate, dedicated winter set rather than one set run year-round.
The date nobody mentions
Most insurers want them installed by November 1 and kept on until April 1 or 15.
That's ten days from today.
The discount is applied to the policy, not refunded at the pump, so claiming it means telling your broker or insurer that the tires are on.
What it's worth
On a $2,000 annual premium, 2-5% is $40 to $100 a year.
That won't change your life. But it's money already allocated to you by regulation, sitting unclaimed because nobody filled in one line.
The Rate Board - week of Oct 22
Co-operators -3.73% · in effect since Sep 11
Allstate -1.64% · in effect since Sep 15
Pembridge -1.45% · in effect since Sep 15
The Personal -5.3% · takes effect Nov 28
Certas (Desjardins) -2% · takes effect Nov 28
A cut only reaches you if your renewal falls on or after the effective date. One day earlier and you wait a year.
✓ Four tires, 3PMSF symbol, on by Nov 1
✓ Tell your insurer - it isn't automatic
✓ Keep the installation receipt
✓ All-weather? Ask specifically whether yours qualifies
The discount is mandatory to offer. It is not mandatory to give you if you never mention it.
Reply "tires on" with your insurer's name and I'll tell you what they need to apply it.