Feds heed auto insurers’ call for auto theft summit

Canada’s federal government has answered the call by the nation’s auto insurers to promote a whole-of-society solution to a mounting auto theft crisis.

A National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft will take place in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2024, Public Safety Canada announced Monday.

“Auto theft is a growing criminal phenomenon that impacts Canadians from coast-to-coast,” François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry, said in the Public Safety Canada announcement.

“It is essential that we tackle this problem in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including governments at all levels, industry, and law enforcement. By bringing together all the key players, the National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft will be an opportunity to identify solutions and actions that we can take to stamp out this scourge.”

Formal invitations to industry participants have not yet been sent, but CityNews in Toronto has reported municipal and provincial police forces, the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, and auto companies will all have a seat at the table.

Canada’s P&C insurance industry, which paid out $1.2 billion in auto theft claims last year, is also widely anticipated to be a key player at the summit.

“Federal and provincial officials have been collaborating with key stakeholders on efforts to combat auto theft,” Public Safety Canada commented when announcing the summit. “The Summit will serve to identify short-, medium- and long-term actions to combat auto theft and will strengthen joint initiatives that are already underway.”

Canada’s auto insurers have been saying for some time that a ‘whole-of-society’ solution is required to deal with auto theft, which is increasingly being perpetrated by organized crime rings.

Auto insurers say more than 80,000 vehicles across Canada have been stolen over the past year.

Équité Association, an independent organization working with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) to tackle insurance fraud and crime, reports the regional, year-over-year increase of auto theft across Canada in 2022 is as follows: Ontario (+48.3%); Quebec (+50%); Alberta (+18.3%, after several years of decline); and Atlantic Canada (+34.5%)

“Ontario has been hit especially hard, with over $700 million in losses province-wide in 2022, and over $500 million worth of vehicles stolen in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) alone,” IBC notes on its website.

On the day of the federal government’s announcement, York Regional Police in Ontario laid 96 criminal charges after recovering 52 stolen vehicles worth more than $3.2 million.

Insurers have already been experimenting with lowering premiums for people willing to install tracking and other security devices in their vehicles. They have also offered to subsidize consumer investments to increase vehicle security.

IBC acknowledges its own role in educating consumers about how to protect vehicles against theft. On its website, they cite Équité Association recommendations for other whole-of-society solutions requiring cooperation with multiple government and industry sectors.

First, stop vehicles from being stolen in the first place. The trade association for auto insurers lists several measures to do this:

• “Auto manufacturers must equip vehicles with modern and effective anti-theft safety devices,” IBC says on its website, per Équité. “The current anti-theft deterrent standard that federal regulations require manufacturers to adhere to was first implemented in 2007. It has not been updated since, despite the widespread adoption of modern technologies such as keyless, push-to-start ignition. This has rendered the current standard outdated and leaves vehicles vulnerable to theft.”
• “In Ontario, the government can tighten up provincial vehicle registrations. All provinces should provide more resources for coordinated, inter-agency enforcement.”
• “All provinces can bolster law enforcement capacities.”

Second, the federal government needs to tighten border controls so that vehicles stolen in Canada don’t wind up in a shipping container to be sold overseas.

“Public Safety Canada should invest in the Canada Border Services Agency to improve controls at ports and borders, and require all vehicles set for permanent export to be presented for inspection 72 hours prior to departure,” IBC and Équité suggest.

Also, “the Royal Canadian Mounted Police should facilitate the upload of Canadian Police Information Centre data to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).”

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/Rallef