Canada Faces Global Car Theft Crisis

Canada has been dubbed the 'car theft capital of the world,' with over 105,000 vehicles stolen in 2022, equating to one car stolen every five minutes. INTERPOL ranked Canada among the top 10 countries for car thefts after integrating the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s database with its own in February 2024. Consequently, over 1,500 stolen Canadian vehicles have been detected globally, with around 200 identified weekly, mainly at international ports. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has labeled the situation a 'national crisis,' noting that insurers paid out over C$1.5 billion in claims last year. Organized crime groups are exploiting high demand for vehicles, exacerbated by pandemic-related shortages, to ship stolen cars to the Middle East and Africa. Authorities have intensified efforts, intercepting hundreds of stolen vehicles, but the problem persists as an international concern.