Cost of Ottawa stolen vehicle insurance claims increases over 500% in five years

Ottawa police say approximately three vehicles a day are stolen in Ottawa. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa)

Insurance companies paid Ottawa drivers over $41 million in stolen vehicle claims last year.

A new report by the Insurance Bureau of Canada says that number is a 513 per cent increase in the cost of auto theft claims over five years, making it the sixth costliest city in the province. Vehicle theft insurance claims were just over $6.7 million in 2018, but surged to $41.3 million in 2023.

The Ottawa Police Service says 747 vehicles have been reported stolen so far in 2024, with Bay, Rideau-Vanier, Alta Vista and Gloucester-Southgate wards being the hot spots for vehicle thefts. Police reported just under 2,140 vehicle thefts in the city in 2023.

The numbers come as the province has seen a 165 per cent increase in people making insurance claims for vehicle theft, with costs paid out increasing by 524 per cent since 2018. Between 2022 and 2023, the increase in the number of auto theft claims was 21 per cent and the increase for auto theft claims costs was 32 per cent.

The cities with the highest vehicle claim costs in 2023 were Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga, at $371.8, $93.1 and $90 million, respectively.

Three cities in the Greater Toronto Area also saw the highest increases in auto theft claim costs between 2018 and 2023, with Whitby, Pickering and Milton seeing over 1,000 per cent increases in the amount paid out to vehicle owners.

"With auto theft claims skyrocketing across Ontario, we urge all orders of government – including the province and municipalities – not to delay in working with the federal government to implement the recommendations in the National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft," said Amanda Deans, the vice-president for the Ontario and Atlantic region for the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

"This initiative must include measures that make it more difficult to transport and export stolen cars."

The federal government unveiled its “national action plan” to combat auto thefts last month, which includes increased collaboration with international law enforcement agencies, proposed Criminal Code amendments, and new penalties for thefts connected to organized crime.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says private auto insurance companies paid out more than $1.5 billion in theft claims across the country last year. That’s a more-than 20 per cent increase from 2022, and a 254 per cent increase from 2018, according to the organization.