Can I choose my own lawyer if my insurer has a conflict of interest defending me in Ontario?

Yes, in situations where a genuine conflict exists between your interests and your insurer's. This typically arises when the insurer is defending you under a reservation of rights and the coverage issue overlaps with the facts of the underlying lawsuit - for example, where proving a particular fact would help the insurer avoid paying but would also hurt your defence on the merits. In that kind of situation, a lawyer appointed and directed by the insurer may not be able to represent your interests without compromise, and you may be entitled to choose independent counsel, generally at the insurer's expense.

Not every reservation of rights creates this kind of conflict - many coverage questions are separate enough from the facts being litigated in the underlying claim that insurer-appointed counsel can handle both without any real tension. Whether a genuine conflict exists is a fact-specific question, and insurers don't always agree that one exists just because a reservation of rights letter was sent. If you believe the coverage issues and the merits of the claim against you are genuinely intertwined, it's worth having your policy and the specific reservation reviewed promptly, since this affects who controls your defence going forward.