Auto thefts are continuing to decline across Ontario and much of Canada, but Toronto appears to be moving in the opposite direction this year.
According to Équité Association’s latest auto theft trend report, 8,796 private passenger vehicles were stolen in Ontario during the first six months of 2026. That marks an 8.4-per-cent drop from the 9,601 vehicles stolen during the same period last year.
Nationally, thefts fell by 10.1 per cent, from 23,093 vehicles in the first half of 2025 to 20,759 this year.
Western Canada recorded the largest regional decline at 14.3 per cent, while Quebec and Atlantic Canada saw decreases of 6.4 and 4.1 per cent, respectively.
However, Toronto Police Service (TPS) says the city has recorded a slight increase after a major improvement last year.
“In 2025, auto thefts were down 32.2 per cent by year end. So far this year, however, we are seeing auto thefts slightly rise by 8.8 per cent,” TPS said in a statement to Now Toronto.
The Toronto numbers and Équité’s provincial figures measure different geographic areas and vehicle categories, but together they suggest the national and provincial decline has not been felt evenly across every community.
TPS said it is difficult to attribute the changing numbers to one particular factor.
Why auto theft is falling across Ontario
Betty Ng, director of investigative operations with Équité Association, says several factors are contributing to the province-wide decline.
“The decrease is multifaceted. We’ve been working with the different police agencies, the different municipalities, bringing awareness,” Ng told Now Toronto. “The awareness campaign is absolutely key to the public because there is no one silver bullet to the solution.”
Ng also pointed to dedicated police teams and funding provided through Ontario’s Preventing Auto Thefts Grant program.
“That money helped many of the municipalities stand up their own auto theft squad, which helps in the long run combating this issue that we’ve been facing,” she said.
Équité is funded entirely by the insurance industry and works with law enforcement, governments and other organizations to combat auto theft and insurance crime.
“Our vision is to be the best in class in fraud fighting,” Ng said. “We are funded 100 per cent by the insurance industry. We are a consortium leader to fight auto theft and all kinds of insurance crimes.”
Why Toronto remains vulnerable
Despite the wider decline, Ng says Toronto remains a major hub for auto theft because of its population, number of vehicles and role as a destination for large events.
“Sadly, Toronto is the hub. It is the transfer to everything, and simply people coming in,” she said. “They may not reside in the municipality, but they’re just passing through. There’s a lot of major events that’s happening in Toronto, and this is where a lot of people fall victim to auto theft.”
Ng added that Toronto’s demographics, population density and large number of available vehicles make it particularly vulnerable.
The city’s relative proximity to the Port of Montreal also makes it more convenient for thieves attempting to export stolen vehicles, according to Ng.
“The minute [thieves] steal the car, they tend to drive it straight to the Port of Montreal,” she said.
“Versus if a vehicle is stolen in Thunder Bay, they’re going to have to potentially truck it, and there’s a higher chance of getting caught. For the thieves, it’s to look at convenience.”
Stolen vehicles may be exported, resold within Canada or dismantled and sold for parts.
“It is known that all three, all of the above,” Ng said. “Thieves are smart. When exports become challenging, then they will re-VIN these vehicles and sell to unsuspecting buyers domestically, and potentially continue to sell these vehicles as parts and export them as parts as well.”
“The type of trend hasn’t really changed. It’s just which is the easier road for them.”
Most thefts happen near victims’ homes
Équité’s separate 2026 Canadian Auto Theft Impact Survey found that 82 per cent of thefts happened at or next to the victim’s home.
Ng says the figure demonstrates how organized thieves can be when selecting their targets.
“They’re very organized. They have individuals that are targeting in different municipalities as a group,” she said. “They will do their homework. Because it is such a high-reward and low-risk crime, they will do all of their homework to make sure that the deal is a successful one.”
More than one-third of Canadians surveyed said they had been personally affected by auto theft, while only 18 per cent believed new vehicles were adequately protected against modern, technology-based theft.
Nearly three-quarters said anti-theft security should be built into vehicles instead of being offered as an aftermarket add-on.
Équité has been calling on Transport Canada to modernize federal vehicle safety regulations to better address methods such as key fob relay attacks and electronic reprogramming.
Ng pointed to the introduction of vehicle immobilizers in the mid-2000s as an example of how updated requirements can reduce theft.
“Definitely something similar to back in 2005 when they updated the standards and rolled out vehicle immobilizers,” she said. “When that rolled out, we’ve seen a huge decrease in vehicles [stolen].”
“There is not going to be one key that’s going to resolve or be the best for anti-theft. However, when you have to update the standards, your onboard diagnostic system—how do you further protect that cybersecurity? I think those would be the number one things on top of my mind.”
Toronto police point to technology and partnerships
TPS said it continues to work with Équité and other law enforcement partners to disrupt organized theft networks and has recovered thousands of stolen vehicles.
Équité also works with Montreal police and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to identify stolen vehicles before they leave the country.
“We have our port operation in the Port of Montreal. We work with the Montreal police as well as CBSA,” Ng said. “When suspicious containers or cargo have been identified, Équité is there to play our part and continue helping to strengthen the border to prevent these vehicles being exported.”
Toronto police are also using Automated Licence Plate Recognition technology to identify stolen vehicles. The system, introduced in early 2024, scans licence plates passing police vehicles and generates real-time alerts for officers.
More than 600 Toronto police vehicles are now equipped with the technology, which TPS says can result in more than 1.1 million licence plates being scanned every 24 hours.
Police also credited the federal government’s National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft with strengthening Criminal Code offences and penalties connected to organized auto theft and carjackings.
The plan added offences targeting the possession and distribution of electronic devices used to steal vehicles and expanded information sharing between governments, police and industry partners.
How Toronto drivers can protect their vehicles
Ng recommends that drivers take a layered approach to vehicle security.
“Be mindful where you’re parked. If you’re at home, park in your garage. If you’re in a public area, park in a well-lit area,” she said. “Potentially some shopping centres that have CCTVs and surveillance, park near there. Potentially have a vehicle tracker, audible alarm systems, sometimes even as old as a steering wheel lock.”
Ng says the goal of these measures is to make stealing the vehicle slower and more difficult.
“The idea is to slow down the thieves. If they really wanted to steal your car, they would definitely do it, but it’s to have this layered approach to slow them down as an individual,” she said.
“Lock your car. Don’t make it an opportunistic crime.”
However, Ng says the responsibility cannot fall entirely on individual vehicle owners.
Government funding can help police services strengthen enforcement, while intelligence sharing among Équité, CBSA and other organizations can help authorities target organized crime groups.
“Definitely government funding helps the municipalities to have proper budgets to ramp up their enforcement, and then continue to have intelligence sharing with Équité Association and with the different entities, CBSA, where we could be able to share intelligence about these organized crime groups,” she said.
“Ultimately, addressing auto theft requires collective action across all sectors,” TPS said, pointing to governments, police, vehicle manufacturers, port authorities, shipping companies and private industry.
