Car theft is one of the most unpleasant experiences a car owner can go through, and its impact goes far beyond the individual victim. Even though car thefts fell 19.1% in the first half of 2025, only 56.5% of stolen vehicles in Canada were recovered.
When a stolen vehicle isn’t recovered, a covered theft claim usually gets settled as a total loss. These claims are one of many costs that can affect insurance premiums in the region.
In this article, we dive into how vehicle theft affects car insurance rates, why premiums can keep rising despite fewer thefts and what the recovery data shows.
Our Methodology
We relied on two primary data sources below.
Équité Association’s Auto Theft Trend Report (January–June 2025): Équité’s national auto theft dataset provides insight into theft volumes and recovery rates by region.
MyChoice Internal Car Insurance Inflation Data (2024–2025): We compared the theft data with MyChoice’s proprietary insurance inflation data, derived from thousands of quotes submitted through our platform.
How Are Thefts Trending Across Canada?
According to Équité Association’s report for the first half of 2025, 23,094 vehicles were stolen. While this is a 19.1% decrease from the same period in 2024, it is still nearly 3,000 more cases than the first-half 2021 total of 20,313.
Here’s how theft counts changed between the first halves of 2024 and 2025:
| Region | Auto thefts, 1H 2024 | Auto thefts, 1H 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 28,549 | 23,094 | -19.1% |
| Ontario | 12,949 | 9,600 | -25.9% |
| Quebec | 5,000 | 3,889 | -22.2% |
| Western Canada | 9,600 | 8,695 | -9.4% |
| Alberta | 5,042 | 4,411 | -12.5% |
| Atlantic Canada | 1,000 | 910 | -9.0% |
Overall, auto thefts in Canada declined between the two periods. Ontario had the highest number of cases in both periods and the largest reduction in auto thefts. Atlantic Canada saw the smallest reduction, though it had the fewest cases in both periods.
Stolen-Vehicle Recovery Rates
Getting your car stolen and then recovered is one thing. If the vehicle isn’t recovered and the policy covers theft, the insurer may treat the claim as a total loss.
In the first half of 2025, Canada’s stolen-vehicle recovery rate was 56.5%, up 3.4 percentage points from the same period in 2024. This means 43.5% of the vehicles in the national dataset were not recovered.
The regional numbers show how uneven the recovery rates were:
| Region | Recovery rate, 1H 2024 | Recovery rate, 1H 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 53.1% | 56.5% | +3.4 percentage points |
| Ontario | 44.9% | 48.6% | +3.7 percentage points |
| Quebec | 38.4% | 45.1% | +6.7 percentage points |
| Western Canada | 71.3% | 69.9% | -1.4 percentage points |
| Alberta | 69.4% | 67.6% | -1.8 percentage points |
| Atlantic Canada | 59.0% | 59.2% | +0.2 percentage points |
Among the regions reported by Équité, Quebec had the lowest recovery rate at 45.1% in the first half of 2025, but the largest increase, gaining 6.7 percentage points from the previous year. While most regions improved, Western Canada and Alberta had lower recovery rates than the previous year.
Recovery Rates and Car Insurance Inflation
Vehicle recovery rates play a role in insurance costs, but they are not the only factor that influences what drivers pay.
Alberta posted a 67.6% recovery rate and 11.9% auto insurance inflation in the MyChoice data. Ontario’s lower 48.6% recovery rate coincided with 4.1% premium growth. Quebec had a 45.1% recovery rate and 6.2% insurance inflation.
The numbers don’t move together in every province. Repair costs, claims, vehicle prices, fraud and other regional factors also affect premiums.
Why Do Recovery Rates Matter?
When a stolen vehicle isn’t found, an insurer may need to settle a covered claim as a total loss rather than pay for repairs. A recovered vehicle may still need extensive repairs or be written off, depending on its condition.
The number of thefts and the number of vehicles recovered can both affect total claim costs.
Which Cars Are Most Often Stolen in Canada?
Équité also reported on the most commonly stolen vehicles in Canada in 2024.
The Toyota RAV4 was the most-stolen vehicle nationally, with 2,080 thefts and a theft rate of 0.38% among 554,086 insured RAV4s. Other frequently stolen vehicles included the Dodge Ram 1500 Series, Honda CR-V and Ford F-150 Series.
Équité reported that newer SUVs remain popular targets because of their demand and resale value.
Vehicle theft trends also show up in insurance pricing. Several high-theft postal codes in Toronto, including M3J and M1B, fall within some of the city’s most expensive insurance areas. Lower-theft downtown postal codes such as M5J, M5S and M4Y are among the less expensive. Theft is not the only factor affecting premiums.