Where to find insurer complaints data and help in Canada
If something goes wrong with an insurer, there is a path to follow, and there are independent places to turn to. This page also explains where complaint figures are published and why they are hard to compare.
Step 1: the insurer's own complaint process
Insurers have a complaint process. It is usually on their website or in your policy documents. Write down what happened, keep copies of what you send, and ask for the insurer's final answer in writing.
Step 2: an independent body, if it is not resolved
Home, auto and other general insurance. The General Insurance OmbudService (GIO) is an independent organization created in 2002 to help consumers resolve disputes with property and casualty insurers. Its service is free and available in English and French.
Other provinces and territories. Each has an insurance regulator. See check an advisor's licence for the regulator in each one.
Which body is right depends on the kind of insurance, the province and who the complaint is about. If you are not sure, the regulator for your province can point you the right way.
Where complaint information is published
The ombudservices publish annual reports. GIO, for example, released its 2024-2025 annual report in October 2025 and reported 7,330 contacts, up 17 percent from the year before.
Regulators publish reports too. FSRA's annual complaints report, for example, groups complaints by sector (such as auto insurance and life and health insurance) and by theme, and does not name individual insurers. In Quebec, insurers report their complaint numbers to the AMF each year, but what the AMF publishes is not always broken down by company.
Insurers' own websites often describe their complaint process and sometimes publish summaries.
What is public varies by province and changes over time, so look at each body's own site.
Reading complaint figures fairly
Size matters. A larger company has more customers, so it will usually have more complaints, even if a smaller share of its customers complain.
A complaint is not a finding. Many complaints are resolved in the customer's favour, many are not, and the number alone does not say which.
The topic matters. Complaints about a claim decision, a renewal price and a billing mistake are different things.
It is a snapshot. Figures cover a past period and the company may have changed since.
It is one signal. Use it with the policy wording, the financial-strength rating and a conversation with a licensed advisor. See how to read a financial-strength rating.
AdvisorPro does not rate or rank insurers and does not publish complaint counts for individual companies.
Start with the insurer's own complaint process and ask for its final answer in writing. If you disagree with the result, an independent body such as the General Insurance OmbudService (or the AMF in Quebec) may be able to help.
Does it cost anything to use an ombudservice?
General Insurance OmbudService describes its service as free. Other bodies have their own rules, so check each one's site.
Can I compare insurers by their number of complaints?
Not reliably. Counts depend on company size, the kind of complaint and the period, and regulators often publish totals by sector instead of by company.
More in Insurance companies in Canada: plain facts
General information, not advice or a recommendation. Rules differ by province and by insurer, so confirm with your insurer or a licensed advisor. This page was last checked in November 2026.