In Ontario, once changes to the province’s Insurance Act are proclaimed, auto insurers doing business in the province will be obligated to report the insurance fraud information that they have to the regulator quarterly.

Representatives from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) who sat down with the Insurance Portal to discuss the new developments say they have been generally well received by the industry.

“There’s an excitement around a regulator supporting the industry in this space. They want more support,” says Chris Georgakopoulos, FSRA’s director of auto policy. “How can the regulator work with the sector to support them in mitigating fraud?” 

Although there are some reservations about the effort required, he says the regulator in its consultations received support for the effort.

In a statement to the Insurance Portal, Jaime Lee, head of fraud and financial crime with Aviva Canada echoed the sentiment saying “Aviva fully supports FSRA’s fraud reporting service rule which will help the industry quantify the fraud exposure impacting our customers and provide better fraud insights and trends,” she states. “We are eager to partner with FSRA and the government.” 

Although other insurers approached by the Insurance Portal for this story declined to comment, while the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) did not return calls, it is possible too that companies want to be heard on the matter: Aviva notes that claims fraud alone has jumped 76 per cent between 2023 and 2024, an upward trend that Lee says is continuing in 2025. “The majority of the fraud relates to vehicle theft and staged accidents, involving bad tow truck operators and body shops.” 

In phase one of FSRA’s effort, once changes to the province’s Insurance Act are proclaimed, insurers will be submitting the requisite information to the regulator quarterly.

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FSRA says the focus on collecting information initially will help determine how much fraud is out there, to look at trends and establish a baseline that will be used to track and measure progress. Georgakopoulos says FSRA plans to report the information publicly. Information being collected includes information gathered during all parts of a policy’s lifecycle from underwriting through to claims. “We’re focusing on getting this off the ground. Phase one, implementing the fraud reporting service, is where we’ll be able to have all insurers in Ontario provide broad information that’s consistent,” he adds.

Currently there is no timeline for the implementation of FSRA’s plans or even proclamation of the Insurance Act’s fraud clauses. Georgakopoulos says the plan is to have the government proclaim the relevant sections once the reporting service is ready to go live. Currently FSRA is in the procurement process with potential vendors. It is also creating a technical advisory committee which will help with implementation. At present, the regulator is also tight-lipped about the costs they anticipate incurring to develop the reporting system.

Although the fraud reporting rule, 2024-003 Automobile Insurance – Fraud Reporting Service, and the accompanying guidance Automobile Insurance Fraud Reporting call for the development of robust frameworks of policies and procedures, monitoring and reporting, Georgakopoulos says he does not expect the effort to be a heavy lift for insurers.

“I think most insurers should already be collecting this information as part of their fraud mitigation strategies. We will definitely be working with the insurance industry to make sure they’re ready to go live,” he says. “They should already be collecting this information. I wouldn’t perceive it as a lot of work for insurers. There is going to be work that has to be done in order to make this a success. We will work collaboratively with insurers.”