Nearly a quarter of Canadian small business owners carry no coverage, and 55% cannot absorb a $10,000 hit
Nearly one in four Canadian small business owners, 23 percent, say they do not currently carry business insurance, and 55 percent could not cover an unexpected expense above $10,000 without assistance.
Ninety percent of those owners experienced at least one unexpected challenge, pressure or setback over the past year, and 67 percent said those experiences changed how they plan for risk.
Fifty-seven percent faced direct financial pressures including rising costs, cash flow challenges, or slowing customer demand, and 87 percent went through a significant business change such as expanding products and services, entering new markets, hiring staff, purchasing equipment, or investing in new technology.
Fifty-nine percent find understanding business insurance difficult or frustrating which listed knowing what is and is not covered, determining how much coverage is needed, and identifying risks specific to their industry among the common challenges.
Seventy-six percent agreed insurance should be an integral part of business planning, while 24 percent view insurance as a cost to minimize.
"Many business owners wear multiple hats every day, and reviewing insurance coverage often falls behind more immediate priorities," said Tang Trang, vice president of small business insurance at TD Insurance, in the company's release.
Insured owners were more likely than uninsured owners to say their business is positioned to grow and succeed in the coming year, 73 percent versus 58 percent.They were also more likely to prioritize growth and expansion, 63 percent versus 49 percent, and investment in technology and digital tools, 20 percent versus 11 percent.
Among insured owners, 72 percent reviewed their coverage in the past year, and nearly two-thirds said growth would prompt them to update that coverage.
Seventy-five percent of all owners surveyed said they have taken the right steps to strengthen or protect their business over the past year.
"Most business owners report having business insurance," Trang said in the release.
There is still a gap, according to Trang, in understanding how coverage supports a business as it grows.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business recorded short-term small business optimism at 52.4 in its Business Barometer for August 2026, a decline of about five points, while its long-term index held almost unchanged at 57.6.
Insufficient demand was the top constraint on expansion, cited by 48 percent of small and medium firms, and 42 percent each cited product input costs and raw material costs, roughly 13 percentage points above the historical average for that indicator.
Fifteen percent of employers planned layoffs against 13 percent planning to hire.
A separate CFIB survey, found 26 percent of business owners reporting major negative impacts from the new US 50 percent tariffs and 28 percent reporting similar impacts from Canada's counter-tariffs.
Among Canadian exporters selling into the United States, 46 percent were affected by US Section 338 tariffs, and 49 percent of Canadian importers sourcing from the United States were affected by Canadian retaliatory tariffs.
Affected businesses reported median monthly costs of $65,000.
Eighteen percent of affected exporters and 12 percent of affected importers said they would stop being financially viable if the trade war lasts three months or more.
TD Insurance released the survey on September 17, drawn from 401 Canadian small business owners polled through the Leger Opinion panel between July 9 and 21, with small businesses defined as companies of one to 500 employees and annual revenue up to $5m.
