Canada: reported motor vehicle theft rate 2000-2023

This statistic shows Canada's reported motor vehicle theft rate from 2000 to 2023. There were about 286.46 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 residents in Canada in 2021. 

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.