Canada's Car Theft Epidemic Is Starting To Cool Off

Over the past five years or so, Canada has had a car theft problem. Driven by organized crime snapping up easy-to-steal vehicles to sell overseas, theft numbers and related insurance claims shot up after the pandemic, peaking in 2023. The New York Times once called Toronto a "candy store" for car thieves. Canada's own Justice Minister had their Toyota Highlander stolen three times in three years. One Toronto cop once publicly recommended people keep their key fobs at their front door to make things easier for the thieves. People you may know who have had vehicles broken into while in the city of Montreal include car YouTubers Throttle House, Jack from Savagegeese, and my own mother-in-law. But perhaps the tides are turning because car theft in Canada dropped 10.1% over the first half of 2026 compared to the same timeframe last year, inching close to "pre-crisis levels."

From Équité Association's Auto Theft Trend Report, Canada logged 20,759 stolen cars from January through June 2026. In 2025, this number was 23,093. The theft count has been trending downward every year since it peaked in 2023, and has almost gone back down to 2021 numbers. Alberta and Western Canada saw bigger proportional drops of 15.1% and 14.3%, respectively, whereas Ontario and Quebec had smaller decreases of 8.4% and 6.4%.

ÉA attributes the statistical drop in theft to "the successful collaboration of the insurance industry with law enforcement and all levels of government," but calls on both the automakers and Transport Canada safety regs to modernize anti-theft tech. Some of the most popular models among Canadian thieves include the Lexus RX (which has a wild theft rate of almost 5% in Ontario), Toyota RAV4 and Highlander, the big three half-ton American pickup trucks, and the Honda CR-V. Montreal in particular is a hotbed for auto theft as the Port of Montreal is a convenient hub to export stolen vehicles to Africa and the Middle East.

While the decreasing theft numbers are mildly encouraging, the vibes will likely take a bit longer to recover. Per an Angus Reid survey back in July commissioned by ÉA, over one-third of Canadians "have been personally affected by auto theft," and just 18% think new cars are "adequately protected against modern, technology-based theft." And speaking simply as a Canadian on the ground here in Toronto, public sentiment has yet to catch up to the stats, as I've personally had multiple "What car should I buy?" conversations with people in which "But will that get stolen, though?" still came up as a real concern.