Toronto is experiencing a car theft epidemic

Paul Ouellet considers himself a car guy. He has three cars — a Lexus, a BMW and a vintage Mercedes. And like many Toronto car people, he’s taking extraordinary measures to protect his vehicles from thieves.

The type of Lexus he drives is one of Canada’s most stolen cars, so he installs a steering wheel lock at night. He has also installed several security cameras, burglar alarms, two separate GOS systems and Apple Air Tags.

Recently, he spent about $4,500 to install three retractable steel posts called bollards to stop thieves from driving one of his cars off his property.

Someone has already tried to steal his Lexus twice. The thieves ran away when the alarm system went off. But Ouellet figures they’ll probably try again.

“You work hard for what you have, and you know, I enjoy my cars, so I’m going to make it as difficult as possible for them to get this car,” he said. “I’m being proactive as a consumer to do the best I can so that I can go to sleep at night.”

Canada is experiencing an epidemic of auto theft. Nationwide, car thefts increased 24% in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

In Toronto, Canada’s largest city, thefts have doubled in the last five years — 12,000 cars were stolen, which is equal to 1 vehicle every 40 minutes. Violent incidents have also increased. The number of carjackings in Toronto so far this year has doubled from last year.

It’s not unusual for thieves to return to the same location several times, often to steal the new car that replaced the one they’ve already taken.

“Toronto became the candy store for would-be thieves,” said Fred Marcantino, who develops technology to thwart auto theft.

He said most thieves belong to organized gangs who know what they’re doing and can easily bypass a car’s electronic ignition system. Most of the vehicles go by rail to Montreal, where they’re shipped to Africa and the Middle East.

“These guys are professionals. They’re able to take a car in less than a minute without causing any personal damage or needing the actual keys of the vehicle,” he said.

Marcantino is vice president of Tag Tracking, a Montreal company that sells sophisticated vehicle tracking devices. This kind of device is commonly used in Quebec because insurance companies there require it for cars that are stolen most often. But it’s far less common in Ontario, and Marcantino said thieves are taking advantage of that.

“I call it the escalator effect,” he said. “If there’s the stairs and the escalator, most people take the escalator because it’s much easier.”

The police in Ontario have created a joint task force to combat auto theft, and the Canadian government is spending nearly $100 million to help. In early April, the police announced they’d recovered nearly 600 vehicles in containers ready to be shipped overseas.

Car owner Samantha Hodder said that’s great news, but theft in her leafy West Toronto neighborhood is rampant, and she won’t relax until the number of incidents starts going down.

“I personally know five people who’ve had their cars stolen, and they live within a 10-block radius of this house,” she said.

Her Toyota Highlander hybrid was stolen twice from her driveway. She got it back both times. After that, she installed a myriad of anti-theft devices. One morning, she realized her new security camera had captured another attempted theft.

“Someone went up to my car, tried the door handle, kind of looked in, and thought, ‘well, no,’” she said. “But then the camera could also see across the street. And I could see that someone was in someone else’s car. The hatchback was back; they were rummaging, and I could see someone else walking by. There were maybe four or five of them together.”

Hodder said she now locks her car in a garage several blocks away to keep it safe.