Most gig workers in Canada start working without insurance and never think about it again until something goes wrong. A delivery driver has an accident in a personal car. A mover throws out their back carrying a washing machine. A dog walker’s dog bites a child. In each case, the question “am I covered?” has a specific, often uncomfortable answer that depends on what coverage the worker arranged before the incident — not after.

This guide covers the three types of insurance gig workers in Canada should understand, starting with the one that is most commonly wrong.

Vehicle insurance: the ICBC rule that catches drivers

If you use your own car for paid delivery, courier, or driving work in British Columbia, the rate class on your ICBC policy is the issue.

A standard “pleasure use” rate class allows up to six days per calendar month of commercial or delivery use. Beyond six days, you are in the wrong rate class, and ICBC warns that this could affect your coverage and leave you personally responsible for the cost of any claims.

Read that carefully: not a fine, but the entire claim. An accident while delivering on day seven of the month, with a pleasure-use policy, could mean you pay for the damage yourself.

The fix is straightforward. Talk to an ICBC Autoplan broker about the correct rate class for how you actually use the vehicle. The premium difference is real, but it is far less expensive than an uninsured claim. For the full breakdown, see delivery and driving jobs in Vancouver.

Outside BC, each province has its own auto insurance rules. Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec all treat commercial use of a personal vehicle differently, so check with your insurer before you assume your personal policy covers paid driving.

WorkSafeBC: coverage is not automatic for sole proprietors

If you work for yourself as a sole proprietor in British Columbia — and most gig workers do — WorkSafeBC does not cover you automatically. Coverage for sole proprietors and partners is optional. You have to purchase it.

WorkSafeBC calls it Personal Coverage (formerly Personal Optional Protection). It pays health care costs, wage-loss benefits based on 90% of the coverage amount you select, and rehabilitation support if you are injured on a job.

Gig work is often physical. Movers carry heavy furniture up stairs. Cleaners use chemicals and work on ladders. Landscapers operate equipment. If you injure yourself on a job and you have no Personal Coverage, there is no wage-loss benefit. You simply stop earning.

This applies to movers, cleaners, landscapers, handypeople, and anyone doing physical service work as an independent operator. See moving jobs in Vancouver and cleaning jobs in Vancouver for how this applies in those categories.

Outside BC, each province runs its own workers’ compensation system. Ontario has WSIB. Alberta has WCB. The rules on mandatory vs optional coverage for independent workers vary, so check your province.

Commercial general liability: the coverage clients ask about

Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance protects you if your work causes damage to someone else’s property or injures someone. A cleaner who breaks a client’s television. A landscaper whose equipment damages a fence. A dog walker whose dog bites a stranger. CGL covers the cost of the claim rather than leaving it on you personally.

For some categories, this is not optional in practice. Commercial dog walkers in West Vancouver are required to carry $2 million in liability insurance as a permit condition (District of West Vancouver commercial dog walker permit requirements). Many commercial cleaning clients and property managers ask for proof of CGL before giving you a key.

CGL is not legally required for most gig work, but in trust-sensitive categories — cleaning, pet care, trades, property work — having it is a genuine competitive advantage, and not having it can lose you the client.

What no marketplace covers for you

This is the honest paragraph, and it applies to every platform, not only Djobzy.

Djobzy does not provide vehicle insurance, workplace injury coverage, or commercial liability insurance. No gig marketplace does. These are decisions each worker makes for themselves based on the type of work they do, the risks involved, and the requirements of the clients they serve.

What Djobzy does provide is transparent pricing (workers keep 100% of the agreed worker price, with zero commission), payment held in escrow until the job is complete, with escrow funds released upon confirmation of completion through Djobzy’s platform process, and a Career Passport that carries your reviews and verification with you. But insurance is your responsibility, and the cost of getting it wrong is personal.

A practical checklist before your first gig

You do not need all three types of insurance for all types of work. Here is a simple decision framework:

• Driving for paid delivery? Check your auto insurance rate class. If you drive more than six days a month in BC, talk to an Autoplan broker.
• Doing physical work as a sole proprietor? Look up WorkSafeBC Personal Coverage (or your province’s equivalent) and decide deliberately.
• Working in someone’s home or with their property or pet? Consider commercial general liability. In some categories and municipalities, it is required.

None of this needs to cost thousands of dollars or take weeks. Most of it can be sorted in a single phone call before your first job. The point is to make the decision, rather than discovering the gap after the incident.

FAQ

About Djobzy

Djobzy is a location-based work and services marketplace with live map discovery. It connects people who need work or services completed with workers, freelancers, professionals and service providers who can provide them locally or remotely. Users can find opportunities, hire help, offer services and build portable reputation through Djobzy’s Career Passport. Workers pay zero commission and keep 100% of the agreed worker price, while employer and client platform pricing applies. You can read more about the platform in How Djobzy Works.

Decide before your first job, not after your first claim

Insurance is not exciting. It is the thing that keeps an incident from becoming a disaster. The workers who handle it well are the ones who spent ten minutes sorting it out before they started, not the ones who discovered the gap when they needed it.

Sort your coverage, then create your profile at www.djobzy.com, set your location, and find work on the live map. Build your Career Passport with every completed job, and let clients see a track record worth trusting.