Vast majority of Canadians feel their vehicles are vulnerable to theft, survey says

An anti-theft steering wheel lock is fitted to a vehicle in Ottawa on Monday, July 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Even though vehicle thefts have been trending down across much of the country, the overwhelming majority of Canadians still feel their vehicle’s anti-theft technology isn’t as robust as it should be.

That’s the conclusion of an Angus Reid survey commissioned by Équité Association, a non-profit anti-fraud group.

Bryan Gast, Équité’s vice president of investigative services, said the survey’s key finding -- that nearly 80 per cent of Canadians feel their vehicles are or could be vulnerable to thieves -- didn’t surprise him.

“The reality of modern auto theft is that locking your car door is no longer enough. Organized crime has traded crowbars for technology-based theft such as key fob relay attacks and reprogramming to easily bypass a vehicle’s security system,” he said.

“We really have to move into the prevention piece, stopping the vehicle from being stolen in the first place, to really have a sustained decline of auto theft in Canada.”

An Équité Association report released in February said that while the number of vehicles stolen in Canada fell sharply in 2025, almost 47,000 thefts were reported that year and more than a third of those were never recovered.

In 2024, the federal government announced a new national action plan to “disrupt, dismantle and prosecute” the organized crime groups behind auto thefts through tougher criminal penalties, more inspections of shipping containers and better intelligence-sharing.

The Équité report from February said that while the strategy appeared to be working, Canadians remain vulnerable to car theft rings and a spike in vehicle finance fraud detected at ports in Montreal and Halifax.

Équité Association is calling for robust anti-theft mechanisms to be made standard in every new vehicle.

The Angus Reid survey suggests 60 per cent of Canadians want government-mandated protections in new vehicles, and 75 per cent feel those technologies are needed.

In the meantime, Gast said, consumers are taking safety measures into their own hands.

He said he recommends a layered approach to vehicle safety that extends from simple things like parking in garages and keeping the doors locked to installing immobilizers and trackers.

“Anything that you can do to make your vehicle less of a target takes more time for the criminals to steal,” he said.

Équité’s February report said Quebec saw the largest reduction in auto thefts in 2025 — 25 per cent — followed by Ontario at 22 per cent and Western Canada at 11 per cent.

Atlantic Canada saw the smallest reduction — just two per cent.

While the number of thefts dropped, the rate of recovery for stolen vehicles remains low, the report found, at 59 per cent nationally. The report said that in Ontario and Quebec, only about half of the vehicles stolen are ever recovered.

The report said the missing stolen vehicles have likely been exported or dismantled in “chop shops.”

At 71 per cent, Alberta’s rate of stolen vehicle recovery tops those of Quebec and Ontario — but the province continues to serve as a “feeder province” where stolen vehicles from other regions are registered, the report said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press