Cargo theft reporting program to launch in Western Canada

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), police services and the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) will discuss the expansion of the cargo theft reporting program to Western Canada on Tuesday in Edmonton.

The program will help raise awareness of and combat the growing program of cargo theft, which includes stealing trucks and/or trailers containing merchandise, IBC said in a press release on Friday.

“Cargo theft in Western Canada and across the country has become a serious issue,” the IBC said in the release. “Not only does it put the safety of Canadians in jeopardy, it can cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars a year. Also, it’s often linked to organized crime, which uses the proceeds to fund gun and drug smuggling.”

Related: IBC, Canadian Trucking Alliance expand cargo theft reporting initiative across Canada

The program will be discussed at a news conference at the Matrix Hotel, Amber Room, 10640-100th Avenue, Edmonton on Tuesday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. local time. Bill Adams, vice president, Western & Pacific, IBC will be at the news conference, along with Dan Duckering, chair of AMTA and Superintendent Brad MacDonald with the Edmonton Police Service.

In August, the IBC, RCMP and the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association announced that they were joining forces to bring a national cargo theft reporting program to Atlantic Canada. The Cargo Theft Initiative, which IBC and the Canadian Trucking Alliance launched in Ontario in 2014, brings together the insurance industry, the trucking community, law enforcement and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the dangers and costs associated with cargo theft and to assist in the recovery of stolen goods.