Canada鈥檚 auto theft rate for private passenger vehicles dropped by almost 19 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year 鈥� but the non-profit that collected the data says the number of stolen vehicles is still 鈥渦nreasonably鈥� high.
And Alberta is emerging as an area of concern because thieves there seem to be shifting their attention away from older trucks 鈥� often used to commit crimes and then abandoned 鈥� toward newer, higher value vehicles stolen for export.
The 脡quit茅 Association, an insurance crime watchdog, reports that more than 57,000 private passenger vehicles were stolen in Canada last year, down from over 70,000 in 2023.
The association鈥檚 report tracks thefts of household vehicles like cars, trucks, vans and SUVs and does not include thefts of commercial vehicles.
Bryan Gast, 脡quit茅 Association鈥檚 vice president of investigative services, said that Alberta now has the highest per capita vehicle theft rate 鈥� and cases of criminals in that province registering stolen vehicles with phoney vehicle identification numbers, a practice known as re-VINing, are 鈥渟urging.鈥�
He said that by registering false VIN numbers with a provincial body, thieves make it much more difficult to determine whether a vehicle has been stolen.
鈥淰ehicles that are re-VINed are increasingly being exported, as well as being used by organized crime groups,鈥� Gast said.
鈥淓ssentially, it鈥檚 a way for them to get free vehicles because they鈥檝e stolen them, registered it, and it鈥檚 driving around like a legitimate vehicle.鈥�
The report blames false VIN registrations for driving down the recovery rate of stolen vehicles in Alberta, from 87 and 85 per cent in 2022 and 2023, respectively, to 77 per cent in 2024.
The national stolen vehicle recovery rate was just shy of 60 per cent in 2024, up from roughly 56 per cent in 2023. Gast said the national recovery rate is much lower than Alberta鈥檚 rate in part due to vehicles being stolen for export.
Gast added that law enforcement is tracking a spike in the number of stolen Alberta vehicles being shipped out of eastern ports, including the Port of Montreal.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the whole network of these organized crime groups. It鈥檚 not just one individual that鈥檚 doing this. They have a network,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a lot of enforcement going on in one part of a country, they will gravitate to another.鈥�
When the federal government launched its national auto theft action plan last May, much of its focus was on Ontario and Quebec.
Gast said that insurance crimes, including auto theft, are a key source of cash allowing organized crime groups to fund other operations in the drug and gun trades.
鈥淭hey are very connected, and the theft of vehicles is how the organized crime groups are financing themselves,鈥� he said.
Gast said there is work going on 鈥渂ehind the scenes鈥� to combat the spread of fake VIN numbers; he declined to share details publicly in order to 鈥渕ake it harder for criminals.鈥�
He noted that tactics to frustrate the use of false VIN numbers are 鈥渄efinitely working better鈥� in Ontario.
The report credits much of the decline in vehicle thefts to enhanced law enforcement strategies enacted last year as part of the broader federal action plan.
That action plan increased coordination between various police agencies, ramped up X-ray scanning of shipping containers at ports and introduced steeper criminal penalties.
The biggest regional decrease in auto thefts was recorded in Quebec, where the number dropped from 15,000 in 2023 to about 10,000 last year.
Ontario saw the number of auto thefts fall from about 30,000 in 2023 to just shy of 25,000 in 2024. That was still the most thefts recorded by any province in 2024.
B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba saw a combined 13 per cent decline in auto thefts, to just over 20,000 vehicle thefts last year. Alberta saw a 10 per cent drop in thefts last year.
The Atlantic provinces recorded 2,000 vehicles stolen in both 2023 and 2024.
Gast called on the federal government to move on promised updates to anti-theft regulations 鈥� part of the national auto-theft action plan.
Transport Minister Anita Anand said in October that consultations on the new rules concluded last summer, and pledged to introduce modernized regulations in 2025.
But Parliament is currently prorogued until Mar. 24 and there is a high likelihood of opposition parties quickly defeating the Liberal government and triggering an early election.
鈥淭he fact that new, high-value vehicles can be stolen in 20, 30 seconds is a problem. So I hope it remains a priority,鈥� Gast said.
