Nearly two years after the federal government convened a National Summit on Combating Auto Theft, Canada has seen a 27% decline in auto theft claims, according to new figures from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
However, the industry body has warned that theft levels remain far above those of a decade ago and continue to drive significant pressure on motor insurance premiums.
On Feb. 8, 2024, the National Summit on Combating Auto Theft brought together all levels of government, law enforcement, border and port officials, insurers and manufacturers. It led to the National Action Plan on Combating Auto Theft, which set out measures aimed at disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting the organized crime groups behind much of the activity.
“Since the summit, considerable progress has been made in the fight against auto theft,” said Liam McGuinty, vice president, federal affairs at IBC. “Auto theft rates have dropped, thanks in large part to concerted efforts by governments and law enforcement to ensure stolen vehicles are seized before they leave Canada’s ports.”
IBC noted that the federal government had delivered on several elements of the action plan, including investment in the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA’s) capacity and technology, regulatory changes giving CBSA greater access to transporter and warehouse facilities at ports, and proposed amendments to the Criminal Code.
Despite that progress, IBC stressed that overall theft rates remained “significantly higher” than ten years ago and that auto insurance losses had risen by 371% over the same period. The bureau said those trends were putting sustained upward pressure on premiums, undermining public safety, and causing widespread concern and trauma for Canadian drivers.
“We have seen a meaningful drop in auto theft in Canada over the past two years, but the auto theft crisis continues to persist,” McGuinty added. “The federal government must keep fighting auto theft.”
IBC’s latest commentary points to four main areas where recent federal measures are starting to have an impact, while also underlining where insurers still see material gaps.
On vehicle design, the bureau argues that many modern cars and trucks have become “too easy to steal,” particularly via electronic tools. The industry has been pushing for updated anti‑theft requirements, and Ottawa has proposed amendments to the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that would replace outdated immobilization rules with standards aligned to current international theft‑protection norms.
A new category for “electronic attack tools” is intended to address the increasingly sophisticated methods used by thieves. IBC has described the package as an important step that should help ensure all vehicles sold in Canada, including imports, are built to withstand modern electronic theft techniques, but it is pressing for the changes to be finalized and implemented quickly.
At the border, IBC acknowledges that additional investment and legislative moves are beginning to make a difference. Measures such as the Strong Borders Act and planned amendments to the Customs Act are aimed at strengthening CBSA’s powers to inspect exports and intercept stolen vehicles before they leave Canadian ports.
Even so, the bureau maintains that current rules still leave too much room for criminals to move vehicles offshore. It has renewed calls for a 72‑hour requirement that would force exporters to present both vehicles and documentation at the port three days before shipment, replacing current practices that can see paperwork filed weeks after a vehicle has already left the country.
Supply‑chain oversight remains another pressure point. While Ottawa has signaled it will expand CBSA’s authority to inspect goods destined for export, IBC says the role of lightly regulated freight forwarders and other intermediaries in facilitating the export of stolen vehicles has yet to be properly addressed.
In its latest update, the bureau warns that gaps in regulation and supervision across parts of the transport and export network continue to allow “fly‑by‑night” operators to move stolen units with relative ease and is urging the federal government to close what it sees as a significant regulatory blind spot.
On the information side, there has been progress on data sharing between law enforcement agencies. The RCMP is now uploading Canadian Police Information Centre data to Interpol, improving visibility on stolen vehicles internationally. IBC, however, stresses that domestic systems remain a constraint.
Modernizing the Interprovincial Record Exchange system is described as critical to tightening links with provincial vehicle registries and closing registration loopholes that can be exploited to re‑identify or launder stolen vehicles across jurisdictions.
Taken together, the bureau’s assessment is that recent enforcement and policy moves are beginning to push auto theft claims down from crisis peaks, but that the infrastructure used by organized crime – from vulnerabilities in vehicle tech to export channels and data gaps – is still largely in place.
For insurers and brokers, the trajectory of reforms around standards, border powers, supply‑chain oversight, and information‑sharing will be central to whether the recent improvement proves temporary or marks the start of a sustained easing in theft‑driven pressure on Canadian auto insurance pricing.
