If you are searching for what CAA charges to tow your car, you have probably already noticed the problem: CAA's own pages explain what your membership includes, then go quiet about what happens once you exceed it. We went through CAA South Central Ontario's published material in August 2026 and pulled out the parts that answer the question, plus the parts they do not answer.
The short answer
If you are a member and the tow is within your tier's distance, you pay nothing at the roadside. If you go past that distance, CAA charges a per-kilometre rate on the overage. That rate is not published anywhere on CAA's website — their wording is that "a charge per kilometre will be applied for any additional mileage that exceeds your coverage (service coverage varies by territory)."
If you are not a member, CAA's online service request will not process your call. It asks for a valid membership number and postal code before it will dispatch anything. In practice that leaves you joining on the spot or calling an independent operator.
What each CAA tier includes
Current CAA South Central Ontario pricing and towing allowances, verified against caasco.com in August 2026:
| Tier | Annual Cost | Towing Included | Service Calls/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAA Basic | $80/yr | 10 km per call | 4 calls |
| CAA Plus | $124/yr | 200 km per call | 4 calls |
| CAA Premier | $154/yr | 320 km on one call, 200 km on the rest | 5 calls |
The distances are measured per call, not per year, and they are measured from where you broke down. That last detail is what catches most people out.
Where the 10 km limit actually lands you
CAA Basic is the tier most drivers hold, and 10 km is a smaller radius than it sounds like in the GTA. A few real distances:
Pickering to downtown Toronto
~45 km · on CAA Basic, 35 km chargeable
Ajax to a Scarborough shop
~25 km · on CAA Basic, 15 km chargeable
Oshawa to Whitby
~12 km · on CAA Basic, 2 km chargeable
Stranded on the 401 to the nearest garage
varies · on CAA Basic, often over on a long stretch
You do not get to choose a closer shop to stay under the limit if the closer shop cannot do the work. That is how a "free" tow turns into a bill you did not plan for.
Why CAA is charging you for a tow
There are four common reasons a CAA tow produces a charge:
- You exceeded your tier's included distance, and the overage is billed per kilometre.
- You have already used your allotted service calls for the year (four on Basic and Plus, five on Premier).
- The membership was purchased recently and the call falls inside the waiting period that applies to new memberships.
- The vehicle is not eligible under your membership, or the driver requesting service is not the member.
The membership follows the person, not the car, so a CAA member can call for a tow on a vehicle they are driving or riding in. What you cannot do is hand your membership number to someone else and have them call for their own breakdown while you are elsewhere.
Stranded right now? Don't wait.
Call +1 437-215-3468Average arrival: 15–30 min · Pickering · Ajax · Whitby · Oshawa · Scarborough
If you are not a CAA member
CAA does not operate as a pay-per-use towing company. Their online request form requires a valid membership number before it will accept a call, and there is no published non-member rate card. Your realistic options are to join and wait out whatever waiting period applies to a new membership, or to call an independent operator who quotes per job.
That second route is what iFAST's towing service is built for. There is no membership to buy, no annual fee sitting on your credit card for a year you might not break down, and no per-kilometre meter running behind the scenes. You get a quote before a truck is dispatched, and that quote is the number.
Whether that works out cheaper than CAA depends entirely on how often you break down. If you need a tow three or four times a year, or you regularly move a vehicle long distances, a Plus or Premier membership is genuinely good value and we will say so. If you break down about once a year, paying per call almost always costs less than an annual fee plus overage.
For a fuller comparison of the two models, including wait times and where each one wins, see our CAA vs. independent roadside assistance guide.
What we could not find
In the interest of not padding this out with guesses, here is what is genuinely not published by CAA and therefore not stated above:
- The actual per-kilometre overage rate. CAA says it varies by territory and does not give a figure.
- A non-member price for a single tow. There does not appear to be one.
- What a same-day call costs if you join and request service immediately.
If you are a CAA member and you want the overage rate for your area before you need it, the number to call is the one on the back of your membership card. It is worth knowing in advance rather than at the roadside.
