Alberta's insurance regulator has stopped accepting new auto rate filings that raise premiums, days after reporting Care-First rate cuts averaging nearly 14 percent.
The Automobile Insurance Rate Board announced the freeze in Bulletin 08-2026, issued September 14, 2026. Until further notice, the board will not accept any new rate filing from an Alberta auto insurer if the filing would affect overall premiums charged to consumers, covering every vehicle type. The freeze applies to filings submitted on or after that date - filings the AIRB had already accepted will keep moving through its usual review process unless the board says otherwise.
The bulletin does not name a specific trigger, saying only that insurers may be preparing filings ahead of upcoming market and regulatory changes and that the pause is meant to keep the process consistent and orderly. It does follow closely behind the AIRB's own numbers: six days earlier, on September 8, the board published data showing approved Care-First filings cutting private passenger vehicle premiums by an average of 13.7%, or about $297 per vehicle, with young drivers seeing the deepest cuts and motorcycle premiums climbing because of expanded injury benefits.
A freeze on new filings would, in practice, leave those approved reductions in place for the rest of the year rather than adding a new round of rate requests before Care-First takes effect on January 1, 2027 - though the AIRB has not said that is the intent. The board said it expects to publish new filing guidelines by the end of the calendar year and will notify insurers once they are available. Until then, insurers are being told to hold off entirely: the bulletin instructs companies not to submit any new filing with a premium impact, and to review filings already in the pipeline and defer submission if they would result in an overall consumer premium increase.
Laurie Balfour, the AIRB's executive director, signed the bulletin. It's the second bulletin the board has issued this month tied to the Care-First rollout - on September 3, Bulletin 07-2026 told insurers to waive cancellation penalties for drivers who renewed before Care-First takes effect and later want to switch to the new pricing.
The full text of Bulletin 08-2026 is available at https://www.airbfordrivers.ca/resources/.
