At stake |
Overview |
Proactive industry
Automobile theft - What's at stake
A complex problem
In Québec, in 2009, 27,500 vehicles were stolen, which is 1 vehicle every
14 minutes. In order to compensate the owners of stolen vehicles, insurers paid
out more than approximately $230 million in 2009.
Vehicle theft occurs throughout Canada where a total of 108,000 vehicles were
stolen in 2009. Although the theft of motorized vehicles affects the entire
country, the problem and its socioeconomic consequences vary from one province
to the next.
In Western Canada, namely Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, most thefts are
opportunistic in nature. This type of theft is referred to as "joyriding." An
opportunistic theft is committed for reasons other than economic ones, namely
for pleasure, as a result of a dare or in order to obtain a vehicle needed to
commit a crime. Most of these thefts are committed by young people.
Québec: the hub of organized theft rings
In the case of Ontario, British Columbia and Québec, automobile theft is very
different. According to Statistics Canada, in 2009, 27,175 vehicles were stolen
in Ontario, 27,517 in Québec and 19,614 in British Columbia.
Furthermore, the thefts were not committed for the same reasons as in the
western part of the country. Automobile theft in Québec and Ontario is linked
to the presence of organized theft rings. This observation is based on the
recovery rate of stolen vehicles in these regions. The recovery rate for
vehicles stolen in the greater Toronto area, in 2007, was 67%. For Montréal,
the situation is even more disturbing since the percentage of vehicles that
were stolen and then found within the territory of Montréal was only 31%.