A vehicle is stolen every five minutes in the country, says Équité Association in its latest report on auto theft trends. The organization provided data on the number of thefts in 2023 in Canada.
In 2023, the number of private passenger vehicle thefts reached 70,475. This represents an increase of 0.6% compared to the 70,082 cars stolen in 2022. Equity Association compiled the data provided by law enforcement agencies.
Passenger vehicles include automobiles (sedans, coupes, hatchbacks, or station wagons), pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and vans.
Including all types of motor vehicles, the number of thefts reached 105,673 in 2022, according to data from Statistics Canada.
The National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft took place on Feb. 8 in Ottawa. Five federal government ministers, including Dominic Leblanc, Minister of Public Safety of Canada, participated. Équité Association made a presentation at the summit. Its report was published on Feb. 6.
The bill for claims related to auto theft tripled from 2018 to 2022 to reach more than $1.2 billion (B$).
With the collaboration of police forces from two concerned municipalities, the Sûreté du Québec, and Canada Border Services Agency, Equité Association’s investigators were able to recover 1,715 vehicles at the ports of Montreal and Halifax, with an approximate value of $100 million (M$).
Regional trends
As can be seen in the table below, the upward trend in the number of passenger vehicle thefts continued to rise in 2023 in several regions of the country, notably in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces. However, a decrease was recorded in the western provinces of Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba).
With 64.4% of thefts in 2023, Ontario and Quebec alone account for nearly two-thirds of all passenger vehicles stolen in 2023. This proportion was 60.8% in 2022.
Équité Association also notes that the two provinces show the lowest vehicle recovery rates, although data on this aspect remain preliminary. In 2023, this recovery rate was 44% in Ontario and 37% in Quebec.
In Canada, this rate was 54% in 2023, but the trend has been downward for three years. This rate also decreased in all regions between 2021 and 2023.
The report also highlights that the majority of vehicles stolen in Ontario (68%) and Quebec (75%) are vehicles manufactured in 2017 or later, as organized crime networks focus their efforts on stealing new vehicles and luxury cars for higher profits when exporting them abroad. SUVs are primarily targeted by thieves in both provinces.
Even though the number of thefts in Western Canada has decreased, it is indicated that the frequency of thefts in Alberta is the highest in the country, when reported per 100,000 inhabitants. Thus, Alberta records 252 vehicles stolen per 100,000 people, against 202 in Ontario and 169 in Quebec.
In Alberta, pickup trucks (44%) were primarily targeted by criminals in 2023.
“These trends show that the national auto theft crisis is continuing,” says Terri O’Brien, President and CEO of Équité Association.
“Canadians are feeling vulnerable and the majority of us are especially concerned about personal safety and the safety of our communities. Criminals are becoming more brazen and are increasingly resorting to violence as witnessed by the significant increase in carjackings and owner-interrupted thefts,” she indicates in the organization’s press release accompanying the publication of its report.
