The 10 most stolen vehicles in Canada for 2024 (2024)

Auto theft in Canada has hit crisis levels. According to the Équité Association, a car is stolen every five minutes, with 105,000 stolen across Canada. Thefts in Ontario and Quebec shot up by nearly 50% between 2021 and 2023.

The most recent Top 10 Stolen Vehicles in Canada list, which compiles data from 2022, includes many of the same cars from previous years. They’re still high-end vehicles, pick-up trucks, SUVs, and luxury cars, but with more specificity.

In previous years, thieves targeted car models manufactured between 2016 and 2021, but lately they’ve been able to go after newer cars – giving their original owners more grief than ever.

That’s because car thieves’ tactics have become both more sophisticated and more brazen, ranging from quietly boosting key fob signals to violent carjackings.

There’s an international appetite for these models, and organized crime networks are all too happy to appease the masses. They’re getting more and more efficient at packing up stolen vehicles in cargo containers and shipping them out of the ports in Toronto and Montreal.

In fact, according to Peel Police, auto theft is quickly becoming one of the largest sources of revenue for organized crime.

Most stolen vehicles in Canada

This year, the Honda CR-V was Canada’s most stolen vehicle, with 5,620 cars stolen in 2022 alone. At the same time, the Land Rover Range Rover saw the highest theft frequency at 3.9%.

A stolen car isn’t just a burden for the car owner. In 2022, the insurance industry in Canada paid out $1.2 billion in theft claims – an expense that is then passed onto insured drivers everywhere.

Nationally, 70,475 cars were stolen, marking an increase of around 0.6% from 2022, when 70,082 cars were stolen. The high rate of thefts across Ontario and Quebec were significantly balanced by fewer cars stolen in the western provinces in 2023.

Motor vehicle thefts in Ontario and Alberta

Équité uses nationwide theft data from the IBC to compile its annual list. However, there are regional variances, and the most stolen vehicles in Ontario and Alberta differ slightly from the national list.

Auto thefts spike in Ontario in 2023

As Toronto continues to be a major port of export, Ontario has seen the biggest number of auto thefts of any province in the country with over 30,000 thefts in 2023 alone, according to Équité’s 2023 Auto Theft Trend Report. Toronto Police Service also reported over 12,000 stolen in Toronto in 2023 — from 28,131 in 2022 to 20,134, or over a 7% increase.

So dire is the situation that in their 2024 budget, the Ontario government pledged $49 million to support police services to specifically target auto theft. An additional $46 million will go towards the purchase of four police helicopters to bolster patrol efforts.

Read more: How will the new Ontario budget change your auto insurance?

What happens if your car is recovered?

Not all cars that are stolen are gone forever. Nationally, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles was 54% in 2023.

Ontario and Quebec continue to have the lowest recovery rates – likely because the cars are shipping overseas shortly after they’re stolen – at 44% and 37% respectively. Western Canada saw the highest rates of recovered cars at 77% while the Atlantic provinces, 67% of stolen cars were recovered in 2023.

So, what happens if your car is stolen, and you've already filed a claim?

Two scenarios will likely play out:

• If you filed your claim but it hasn’t been settled, you’ll be able followup with the insurance company and amend your claim. That means you get to keep your car. If it’s returned to you damaged and repairs are then needed, you can file a claim to your insurer for the cost of the damage.
• If you filed your claim and it has been settled – i.e., deemed a write-off – and the insurance company has already determined the actual cash value of your car and paid out the amount (minus your deductible), there’s very little to be done. Ownership of the vehicle will be transferred from you to your insurer, but any personal items that were left in the car will be returned to you.

In either scenario, the part of your insurance policy that covers stolen vehicles is comprehensive insurance. Without it, you won’t be able to claim compensation for auto theft.

How to protect your vehicle from theft

No matter what vehicle you own, you can make it harder for thieves to target it. The IBC encourages you to pay special attention to where you keep your car’s key fob. Place your key fob in a Faraday key fob protector box or bag to block the key fob’s signal from being hacked by a thief.

You can also create a visual deterrent for thieves by securing your car with a steering wheel lock and tire locks, as well as installing a Tag GPS tracker (which comes with a warning sticker for your window). The Tag system secures trackers on different commonly stolen parts of your car.

If your heart is set on one of the models listed above, you’re likely in for a higher insurance premium – especially if you opt for comprehensive insurance, a necessary piece of insurance for any driver. However, you can compare auto insurance quotes to find your lowest available rate. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.