The Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA) released a report that revealed vehicle theft has reached a critical point in Canada, costing the country $1 billion dollars annually. With a 300% surge since 2015 in Toronto alone, 2022 marked the most notorious year for vehicle theft in the country’s history, according to the report.

This rising crime is not limited to Toronto. According to the CFLA, every six minutes, a vehicle is stolen in Canada. In 2019, 17 other metropolitan areas reported higher per capita vehicle theft rates than Toronto. The report states that organized crime is at the center of the vehicle theft crisis in Canada. The report also underscores that the profits earned by organized crime through vehicle theft are used to finance drug trafficking, firearm smuggling, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorism.

“It’s become common, and we had to develop recommendations to address it,” Michael Rothe, president and CEO of the CFLA, said. “Almost everyone I speak to has a story about vehicle theft and our latest report proves it. Vehicle theft in Canada is rising exponentially, with organized crime becoming more adept at maintaining their revenue flow from stolen vehicles. We urgently need public education programs on theft prevention, the re-establishment of provincial auto theft teams and protocols for reporting financed vehicles exported through identity theft.”

Despite the implementation of the Tackling Auto Theft and Property Crime Act by the Canadian government in 2010, which empowered the Canada Border Services Agency to detain suspected stolen property before export, the report reveals that more coordinated, national efforts are necessary to curb these often violent crimes.

In response to the severity of the issue, the CFLA’s report proposes a range of strategies to address the escalating rates of vehicle theft in Canada.