After several years of auto theft in Canada spiking to terrifying numbers, last week Équité Association, the national organization focusing on fraud prevention and insurance crime, published some encouraging news — the numbers have started to recede.
In its trend report covering the first half of 2024, it notes the two areas of Canada that had been experiencing the worst rates of theft — Ontario and Quebec — have now seen the largest drops. Canada-wide auto theft, compared to this time last year, has dropped 17% overall. Ontario saw a 14% reduction while Quebec is reporting a whopping 36% fewer stolen vehicles. While Alberta was down by 5%, Atlantic Canada has experienced an increase of 11%.
Those are impressive numbers in some of the worst parts of the country for car theft, though Bryan Gast, vice president of investigative services at Équité, says while the results make him cautiously optimistic, they won’t claim victory just yet.
“Law enforcement is working together extremely well,” he said. “Where there once were independent silos, there is now collaboration and cooperation. The courts have designated prosecutors to combat this, and that dedication to focusing on auto theft is beginning to show results.”
Are current laws in Ontario too lenient?
You’ve no doubt seen headlines about dozens of arrests; you’ve also seen reports of what some call ‘catch-and-release’ for car thieves: arrest them and turn them loose as current laws are too lax. An Ontario provincial task force recently concluded, with Toronto police Deputy Robert Johnson telling CBC, “that auto thefts are down 28 per cent in Toronto this year.” Perhaps more telling, 44% of those arrested during the task force’s tenure were already on bail when they were arrested. According to Johnson, “36 out of the 124 people who had been arrested — around 30 per cent — were young offenders.”
Ontario has introduced legislation it thinks will combat the court’s leniency. “Under the proposed legislation, thieves convicted of motor vehicle theft under the Criminal Code would face a 10-year licence suspension for a first offence, a 15-year licence suspension for a second offence and a lifetime licence suspension for a third offence.” Call me a cynic, but I don’t see how suspending licences of people who are prepared to do far more criminal things than driving with a suspended licence will be as effective as they seem to think.
More stolen vehicles are being recovered
The Équité report also highlights that more vehicles are being recovered. From February 13 of this year, when Canada joined Interpol’s worldwide coalition dealing with auto theft, recovery started heading upwards. The headlines at the time were duly reported — Canada cracked into the top 10 worst numbers in the world the instant it joined — but Gast points out that Canada now has repatriation agreements with 50 countries. He says vehicles are coming back every week, or are being legitimately revinned (a new vehicle identification number) and sold overseas to recoup costs. He says anything that keeps the proceeds from reaching organized crime is critical.
Autos are stolen in Canada with several intentions:
- To be chopped and parted (like this bust in Milton last week)
- To be revinned and sold to unsuspecting buyers in the Canadian marketplace
- To be exported immediately to waiting countries that covet the high-end SUVs and pickups that Quebec and Ontario have been steadily supplying
- To be used in the commission of another crime
Gast notes much of the theft is driven by organized crime, and the proceeds are used in things like terrorism, trafficking, and drugs. “We’re seeing these crime cells move from one province to another as law enforcement starts to clamp down,” he said. A $3.5 million portable scanner has been added to the mix so law enforcement can readily ‘see’ into containers. If a car pops and it’s not on the manifest, it’s probably hot. The portability of the machine means criminals can’t be certain where it might be used.
Consumers have stepped up, too. As awareness has increased, owners are doing more to protect their vehicles. Aftermarket immobilizers, steering wheel clubs, and some owners have gone so far as to install retractable bollards in their driveways. You can even buy a set of them through Costco now. All of these deterrents are to push a would-be thief onto someone else’s driveway. Gast says crime cells have similarly pushed out of Quebec and Ontario, seeking better fishing grounds as arrests go up. The spike in thefts in Atlantic Canada, interestingly, is “cars (sedans, coupes, hatchbacks and wagons) model years 2010-2016,” from the report. That suggests to Gast that instead of being exported, as the pricey SUVs from Quebec and Ontario, they’re instead being kept in the country to be revinned and resold to unwitting consumers. Different methods, but proceeds all funding global criminal organizations.
Courts are stepping up. All levels of law enforcement are stepping up. Consumers are shelling out the equivalent of a theft tax with aftermarket gadgets. What’s missing from this equation?
The manufacturers.
What are manufacturers doing to help curb auto theft?
“To continue the national decrease in auto theft, there must be a shift from recovering stolen vehicles to preventing vehicles from being stolen in the first place,” said Terri O’Brien, president and chief executive officer of Équité Association. “Several auto manufacturers have registered anti-theft technology patents. By utilizing simple and effective technology that has already been developed and patented, manufacturers have the ability, right now, to mitigate vehicle theft and prioritize public safety.”
These cars shouldn’t be so easy to steal in the first place. The companies that make them need to stop doing that Spiderman finger-pointing meme and take responsibility. I can think of no other consumer product that is so expensive, and yet so vulnerable to theft.
“Auto manufacturers can prevent auto theft by installing effective anti-theft safety devices in all new vehicles as outlined in the UL Standards & Engagement’s (ULSE) recently updated Standard for Automobile Theft Deterrent Equipment and Systems: Electronic Immobilization, CAN/ULC 338 Second Edition. This standard provides a set of current North American standards, already vetted by auto manufacturers, to update and modernize the vehicle safety standards,” says Équité. You can read the standard requirements here. Manufacturers have the answer. Too many are ignoring the question.
Time to step up.
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