It’s every car-owner’s worst nightmare: having their car stolen, broken into, or damaged. While there are plenty of things you can do to lower the chance of it happening to your vehicle, recent surveys show that Canadians are still anxious about auto theft.
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Should you be worried about auto theft in 2026? Here’s what you need to know about the latest data.
Auto Theft in Canada
In 2024, Canada saw a drop of 17% in motor vehicle theft. Likewise, B.C. has seen a similar decrease. If you compare the numbers to 2019, 2024 saw 10,757 fewer thefts in the province, following a period of around 7,000 theft-from-auto reports from 2021 to 2023.
The dip in numbers comes after the federal government’s action plan that was unveiled last year, which planned to work toward cracking down on auto theft.
Canadian Anxiety Around Auto Theft
In spite of these facts, it’s clear that Canadians are still worried about their car safety.
According to a recent survey released by Équité Association, almost two-thirds of Canadians worry that their vehicle may be stolen. On top of that, 72% of Canadians want security measures to be built into vehicles during production, as opposed to being sold as an add-on.
Équité notes that auto thefts have cost victims $900 million in 2025 alone. And in 2024, car thieves reportedly targeted “newer SUV models, particularly those with vulnerabilities in their keyless entry systems” as prime targets for “sophisticated criminal networks.”
