LOCATION: National
ISSUE/SOURCE: Efforts to address vehicle theft for profit in Canada
DATE: May 2025
SUGGESTED RESPONSES
- The Government of Canada recognizes that vehicle theft is a national challenge implicating many stakeholders. Since the National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft held in February 2024, Transport Canada has made great progress in support of the National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft.
- Transport Canada published a consultation paper on changes to the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to address auto theft and is working toward publishing proposed amendments in 2025.
- Working with public safety partners, Transport Canada has identified some cargo handling vulnerabilities through targeted security assessments of port facilities. The Department will continue working with the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on appropriate mitigation measures to respond to the findings of the assessments.
- Transport Canada is also working with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to sponsor the Vehicle Theft Prevention Challenge under the Innovative Solutions Canada program to accelerate innovation in the adoption of novel, low cost, and effective aftermarket solutions to enhance vehicle theft protection. Transport Canada has issued grants of up to $150,000 each to eight recipients to develop their solution’s proof of concept under Phase 1 of the Challenge.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- On February 8, 2024, the National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft brought together federal and provincial governments, law enforcement and industry from across the country to discuss strategies to reduce auto theft nationally. Discussions at the Summit culminated in a Statement of Intent, as well as a commitment to work together to combat vehicle theft and to finalize an action plan.
- The National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft was released on May 20, 2024, and identifies measures that will be carried out by the federal government, including Transport Canada, in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments and their partners (e.g. manufacturers, insurance companies, shippers, and law enforcement).
- For its part, Transport Canada launched a public consultation on potential updates to the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, entitled Updating Canada’s theft protection options for new vehicles. The consultation launched on May 20, 2024, and closed on July 19, 2024. Transport Canada officials have reviewed the feedback received and have engaged in more targeted stakeholder consultations with the intention of publishing proposed amendments in the Canada Gazette, Part I in 2025.
- Transport Canada worked with Public Safety partners to identify high-risk port facilities and conducted targeted security assessments for potential vulnerabilities. Based on the assessments, Transport Canada worked with those facilities to revise and validate security plans. The Department continues to work with the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to identify further mitigation measures.
- Transport Canada is also working with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to explore ways to support technological solutions to improve vehicle theft prevention technology. Specifically, the Vehicle Theft Prevention Challenge was launched on August 14, 2024, under the Innovative Solutions Canada program, which supports the creation of anti-theft technologies by challenging Canadian small and medium sized enterprises to bring forward new solutions to prevent auto theft. The call for proposals closed on September 25, 2024, and garnered a total of 88 proposal submissions. Transport Canada issued grant funding of up to $150,000 to eight applicants. As a next step, recipients will be invited to submit a project proposal under the second phase of the challenge to develop the prototype of their solution, and up to two recipients may receive up to $1M in grant funding.
- The Council of Deputy Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety requested that the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) address the issue of vehicle theft within the scope of its mandate, recognizing that its Interprovincial Records Exchange is the primary tool through which provinces and territories exchange driver and vehicle registration information.
- The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, which includes representatives from all provinces and territories and the federal government, has established a Stolen Vehicles Task Force to examine what steps it could take to address vehicle theft and fraudulent vehicle registrations, with a view towards delivering a report to the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety.