- Border integrity — who Canada admits and whether departures are tracked.
- Money laundering — Canada's exposure to illicit financial flows.
Auto theft for export is a distinct organized-crime business: vehicles are stolen (often in the GTA), driven to a port, loaded into shipping containers, and exported, frequently through the Port of Montreal, to markets overseas. The Canada Border Services Agency acts on 100% of police referrals to intercept these containers before they leave. Two complementary series track the problem: CBSA's interceptions at the border, and Équité Association's count of private-passenger vehicles stolen nationwide. Both surged into 2023–24 and both have since turned down.
CBSA interceptions of stolen vehicles climbed from 463 in 2018 to 2,277 in 2024 (roughly fivefold) before falling to 1,590 in 2025. Quebec dominates the count (1,313 in 2024), reflecting the Port of Montreal's role as the principal export gateway, followed by the Greater Toronto Area (680). The 2025 decline coincides with intensified port screening and the federal response that followed the February 2024 National Auto Theft Summit.
One step upstream, the theft numbers tell the same story. Private-passenger vehicle thefts jumped from 53,382 in 2021 to a record 70,475 in 2023, then fell 18.6% in 2024 to about 57,000, the first material decline of the crisis, led by a 32.4% drop in Quebec. Équité reports a further national decline through the first half of 2025. The level remains high: 2024 was still well above 2021. Over a longer horizon the surge reversed a long decline. Statistics Canada's police-reported motor-vehicle-theft rate had fallen from a 2003 peak of 550.6 per 100,000 (more than double today's level) to a modern low around 2020, before the recent climb and a 17% easing in 2024 to 239.2.
CBSA interceptions went from 463 (2018) to a peak of 2,277 (2024), then fell to 1,590 (2025). Quebec, meaning the Port of Montreal, accounts for the majority (1,313 in 2024), with the GTA next. The figure tracks both export attempts and enforcement, which the CBSA scaled up sharply.
Thefts rose from 53,382 (2021) to a record 70,475 (2023), then fell 18.6% in 2024 to about 57,000, the first real decline of the crisis, led by Quebec (−32.4%). Équité reports continued decline into the first half of 2025.
Theft-related insurance claims hit a record $1.5B in 2023 and ran near $1B in 2024, with Équité putting the annual cost to Canadians around $900M. The national recovery rate is 59.3%. Roughly 40% of stolen vehicles are never returned to their owners. Spread across all policyholders, the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates auto theft adds about $130 a year to the average Ontario auto premium. Owners of high-theft models pay far more directly (one insurer lifted its high-theft surcharge from $500 to $1,500 for 2026).
Both series turned down after the February 2024 National Auto Theft Summit and tighter port screening. That is a genuine improvement. But 2024 thefts and interceptions remained well above pre-2022 levels, and the gains depend on sustained enforcement, so the verdict is Watch rather than strong.
Thefts and border interceptions have both fallen from their 2023–24 peaks, but both remain well above where they were before 2022.
- Compared with
- Canada's own record before 2022. Export-theft definitions and reporting differ across countries, so no international comparison is attempted.
- Where Canada sits
- About 57,000 vehicles stolen in 2024, down from a record 70,475 in 2023 but above 53,382 in 2021. 1,590 stolen vehicles intercepted at the border in 2025, down from 2,277 in 2024 and against 463 in 2018.
- Which way it is moving
- Down. Thefts fell 18.6% in 2024, and Équité reports a further decline in the first half of 2025. Interceptions fell in 2025.
- What the verdict follows
- Both, and they point different ways. The trend has turned, but the level has not normalised. Interception counts also reflect how hard the CBSA is looking, not only how many cars are being exported.
- Data basis
- CBSA Enforcement Action Statistics, 2018–2025; Équité Association, 2024 full year and first half of 2025. Page last reviewed June 2026.
Primary sources
- CBSA — Enforcement Action Statistics ("Stolen vehicle data by calendar year") — stolen vehicles intercepted and detained, by year and region, 2018 onward.
- Équité Association — auto-theft trend reports — national private-passenger vehicle thefts, recovery rates, regional breakdowns, and cost estimates (2024 full year; H1 2025).
- Statistics Canada — "Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2024" (The Daily, 22 July 2025) — long-run motor-vehicle-theft rate cited for context (2003 peak 550.6 per 100,000; 2024 rate 239.2, down 17%).
- Insurance Bureau of Canada — auto-theft crisis data — estimate that auto theft adds roughly $130/year to the average Ontario auto-insurance premium; Ontario theft claims surpassing $1B in 2023.
Methodology notes
- Two distinct series. CBSA interceptions count stolen vehicles stopped at the border (export-specific); Équité counts insurer-reported private-passenger thefts nationwide (the upstream crime). They measure different things and are not added or spliced.
- Interceptions blend crime and enforcement. Because the CBSA acts on 100% of police referrals and scaled up port screening, interception counts reflect enforcement effort as well as export attempts — they are not a direct count of vehicles successfully exported.
- 2024 theft figure. Équité reports "over 57,000" for 2024 (−18.6% vs 2023); the chart uses 57,367 = 70,475 × (1 − 18.6%) for consistency with the reported change.
- Premium impact is an Ontario, industry estimate. The ~$130/year per-driver figure is the Insurance Bureau of Canada's estimate for Ontario specifically; because auto insurance is regulated provincially it does not transfer cleanly to other provinces, and it reflects all auto theft (only part of which is export-bound). As claims fall, premium relief typically lags.
- Long-arc context is a third measure. The 2003-peak and 2020-low figures are Statistics Canada's police-reported motor-vehicle-theft rate — all vehicle theft, not export-specific and not limited to private-passenger vehicles. It is cited only to place the recent surge in historical context and is deliberately not charted alongside the export and Équité series, which measure different things.
- No international comparison. Export-theft and stolen-vehicle definitions and reporting differ across countries, so no G7 comparison is attempted; this is a Canada series.
- Companion workbook. The editable series live in Securing_Stolen-Vehicle-Export_Data.xlsx: CBSA interceptions by year, Équité thefts by year, and the cost/recovery context.
