As number of auto thefts drops nationally, Alberta logs highest per-capita theft rate

Two recovered stolen vehicles are shown ahead of a news conference on car thefts in Montreal on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

OTTAWA — Canada’s auto theft rate for private passenger vehicles dropped by almost 19 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year — but the non-profit that collected the data says the number of stolen vehicles is still “unreasonably” high.

And Alberta is emerging as an area of concern because thieves there seem to be shifting their attention away from older trucks — often used to commit crimes and then abandoned — toward newer, higher value vehicles stolen for export.

The Équité 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’s report tracks thefts of household vehicles like cars, trucks, vans and SUVs and does not include thefts of commercial vehicles.

Bryan Gast, Équité Association’s vice president of investigative services, said that Alberta now has the highest per capita vehicle theft rate — and cases of criminals in that province registering stolen vehicles with phoney vehicle identification numbers, a practice known as re-VINing, are “surging.”

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.

“Vehicles that are re-VINed are increasingly being exported, as well as being used by organized crime groups,” Gast said.

“Essentially, it’s a way for them to get free vehicles because they’ve stolen them, registered it, and it’s driving around like a legitimate vehicle.”

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’s 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.

“That’s the whole network of these organized crime groups. It’s not just one individual that’s doing this. They have a network,” he said. “If there’s a lot of enforcement going on in one part of a country, they will gravitate to another.”

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.

“They are very connected, and the theft of vehicles is how the organized crime groups are financing themselves,” he said.

Gast said there is work going on “behind the scenes” to combat the spread of fake VIN numbers; he declined to share details publicly in order to “make it harder for criminals.”

He noted that tactics to frustrate the use of false VIN numbers are “definitely working better” 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 — 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.

“The fact that new, high-value vehicles can be stolen in 20, 30 seconds is a problem. So I hope it remains a priority,” Gast said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press