Latest news with #Équité Association
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Auto theft sees sharp drop in first half of 2025, industry association says
OTTAWA — The pace of auto theft is dropping in Canada thanks to collective efforts to crack down on thieves, says an industry group focused on insurance fraud and crime. Équité Association said in a report released Monday that the number of vehicles reported stolen nationally dropped 19.1 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Just over 23,000 vehicles were reported stolen in the first six months of the year in Canada, the report said. The decline is particularly stark in Ontario and Quebec, which saw annual drops of 25.9 per cent and 22.2 per cent, respectively. The year-over-year drops are more modest in Atlantic Canada and Western Canada at roughly nine per cent. Alberta saw a decline of 12.5 per cent. Bryan Gast, national vice-president of investigative services at Équité Association, credits greater public awareness of the threat and efforts by various levels of government and law enforcement agencies to collectively tackle the problem. "It's really definitely a collaborative effort," he said. Gast said law enforcement agencies in Ontario and Quebec in particular have stepped up enforcement with police units dedicated to vehicle theft. So far this year, residents of Ontario and Quebec have reported 9,600 and 3,889 vehicle thefts respectively — high numbers that Gast attributed to the provinces' larger populations and proximity to the Port of Montreal. With 4,411 vehicles reported stolen over the first half of 2025, Gast said Alberta continues to lead the country in auto theft on a per-capita basis. Statistics Canada data released earlier this week confirms national progress on the file. The agency reported a 17 per cent annual drop in the rate of police-reported motor vehicle thefts, down to 239 incidents per 100,000 people last year. In 2023, the number of auto thefts had increased 40 per cent over the historic low recorded in 2020, StatCan said. That trend came to a head last year when the federal government convened a summit in February to address car thefts. Ottawa followed up by giving the Canada Border Services Agency millions of dollars in new funding to track vehicles leaving through the country's ports, after having given Ontario $121 million in January of that year to tackle gang crime and auto thefts. Gast said some of the progress can likely be attributed to Canadians' heightened awareness of the issue. "Now I think you can talk to anybody and, if their car hasn't been stolen, they know somebody's car that has been stolen," he said. "I think they are taking those precautions and some of those steps to make their vehicle less of a target." Vehicle recovery rates also rose 3.4 percentage points year over year to 56.5 per cent in the first half of 2025, Équité Association said. The organization said that was nearing the "pre-crisis" level of 57.2 per cent recorded in 2021. Despite progress on vehicle theft, the Insurance Bureau of Canada warned it's still a "significant concern" and "far from the only factor contributing to rising auto insurance costs." "A combination of inflation, tariffs, rising repair and vehicle replacement costs, legal pressures, and regulatory challenges are driving rates up across the country," the bureau said in a media statement. Tariffs on vehicle parts are driving up the costs of repairs and replacement cars, the bureau noted. Gast said that while it's not clear yet, tariffs might be playing a role in the increase Équité Association is seeing in domestic chop shops and vehicle parts being sent overseas. He said that whenever there's a disruption to supply chains — like the one that made semiconductor inputs a hot commodity during the COVID-19 pandemic — the criminal element tends to adapt to meet that demand. While he's encouraged by the progress Canada has posted to date in tamping down auto theft, he said now is not the time to let up. "Don't consider the problem solved," he said. "To keep it manageable and the numbers trending in the right direction, I think we still need to focus on it." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBC
28-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Cases of auto theft down across Canada in first half of 2025, report shows
Social Sharing A new report has found auto theft trends are down 19 per cent across Canada in the first half of this year, compared to the same time period in 2024. But the authors of the report say that vigilance is still needed to keep numbers coming down. It's an "optimistic trend" seen in provinces across the country, says the report by Équité Association, an organization that works to stop crime on behalf of the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry, The largest drops were seen in Ontario at 25.9 per cent and Quebec at 22 per cent, said the report. These provinces experienced the highest rate of theft from 2021 to 2023, when Équité said Canada was facing a "national crisis" in car theft. "This encouraging trend in decreasing auto theft in the most affected provinces demonstrates the success of collective investments, policies and awareness campaigns," the report says. While the drop in auto theft is encouraging, Bryan Gast, vice president of investigative services at Équité Association, said it's still important for vehicle owners to stay alert and for different levels of government to continue collaborations against auto theft. "This is not a victimless crime. It's not just a property crime. The proceeds of these stolen vehicles are funding organized crime and it is affecting the communities in which we live," he said. The report also found that the national rate of recovery for stolen vehicles increased to 56 per cent in the first half of this year, up from 53 per cent for the same time period in 2024. Gast says auto theft in Canada began to spike during the COVID-19 pandemic when a supply chain issue with cars gave organized crime an opportunity to make money. The majority of the cars that are stolen are personal passenger vehicles, such as pickup trucks, sedans and SUVs, he says. He credits the drop in theft and the increase in recoveries to collaboration across different levels of government and with agencies in other provinces. That work included the creation of Ontario's auto theft team to identify crime hotspots, provincial Ministries of Transportation working to close gaps in vehicle registration processes and over $200 million in federal funding, said the report. "I've never seen this collaboration, even in my 30 years of policing, work together. This is very large scale [with] multiple police services," Gast said. "Phenomenal results and I think it's really showing." He also said there's been an increased emphasis to crack down on international organized crime related to auto theft in Canada. Information on any car that is stolen in Canada is sent to the Canadian Police Information Centre, which then shares that information with Interpol, Gast said. "What used to go under the radar once it goes international, now it shows it's stolen. And it affects the criminal's supply and demand," he said. WATCH | A 2024 report looks at what cars are targetted by auto theft criminals: Fighting auto theft in Canada will take more work, report finds 8 months ago Data shows drops in auto theft across the GTA Stephanie Sayer with Toronto Police Services says the city has seen a 34 per cent drop in auto theft cases so far this year, compared to the same period in 2024. "That's the result of sustained, focused efforts both within our Service and in collaboration with our policing partners across the GTA," she said. A news release from the York Regional Police said that as of June 25, they've also seen a 37 per cent decline in auto thefts so far this year compared to the same period last year. Gast says it's important for officials and car owners to be aware of the new technologies criminals could use to steal a car. He recommends people with cars always report suspicious activity, park in a garage space if possible and to always keep windows and doors locked. Drivers can also use a steering wheel lock, a pedal lock, a tracking device or an aftermarket immobilizer to protect from reprogramming attacks, Gast said. "You don't have to do them all. You don't have to build your vehicle into Fort Knox. But if you could do a few layers, just to make it add more time for the criminal to steal your vehicle," he said.
