Canada: reported motor vehicle theft rate 2000-2019
This statistic shows the reported motor vehicle theft rate in Canada from 2000 to 2019. There were about 231.62 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 residents in Canada in 2019.
Motor Vehicle Theft
Motor vehicle theft, a subset of property crime, is the theft or attempted theft of any self-propelled land vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. Motor vehicles are typically stolen for resale and parts after being stripped down, or for joy rides, short term thefts for the sole purpose of entertainment. Motor vehicle theft has been on the decline for some years. It follows the downward trend of all property crime in Canada, which is down 40 percent since 2000.
It is thought one of the primary reasons for the decline in motor vehicle thefts is better anti-theft technology in newer cars, such as engine immobilizers, which make it very difficult to steal without the ignition key. In fact, all of the vehicles on Insurance Bureau of Canada’s list of top ten most stolen automobiles predate legislation that went into effect in 2007 requiring new cars sold in Canada to be equipped with an engine immobilizer.
Compared to 2000 rates, the 2019 rate of motor vehicle theft across Canada of 231.62 is 55 percent lower. The greatest number of thefts for the same year among the provinces occurred in Alberta at 16,572 total thefts.
Motor Vehicle Theft
Motor vehicle theft, a subset of property crime, is the theft or attempted theft of any self-propelled land vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. Motor vehicles are typically stolen for resale and parts after being stripped down, or for joy rides, short term thefts for the sole purpose of entertainment. Motor vehicle theft has been on the decline for some years. It follows the downward trend of all property crime in Canada, which is down 40 percent since 2000.
It is thought one of the primary reasons for the decline in motor vehicle thefts is better anti-theft technology in newer cars, such as engine immobilizers, which make it very difficult to steal without the ignition key. In fact, all of the vehicles on Insurance Bureau of Canada’s list of top ten most stolen automobiles predate legislation that went into effect in 2007 requiring new cars sold in Canada to be equipped with an engine immobilizer.
Compared to 2000 rates, the 2019 rate of motor vehicle theft across Canada of 231.62 is 55 percent lower. The greatest number of thefts for the same year among the provinces occurred in Alberta at 16,572 total thefts.
