While foreign SUVs are at the top of the list for the most stolen vehicles across the country in the Insurance Bureau of Canada's 2020 report on car theft, North American trucks comprise most of the top 10 in Atlantic Canada.
Honda CR-Vs fill three of the top spots in the national list, with the 2018 model at the top. The 2017 version is at number three, and the 2019 is at number 6. The Lexus RX350 is at number two, four and nine with the 2017, 2018 and 2019 models.
Two Toyota Highlanders, a Dodge Ram and Ford F-150 round out the top 10.
Three Dodge Rams, three Ford F150s, two Chevy Silverados and a Honda Civic and Chevy Cruze make up the Atlantic top 10, although with significantly smaller numbers.
Electronic theft of key fob frequencies, high-end vehicles stolen for shipment overseas, and street racing are three themes the IBC identified while putting this year's list together.
Bryan Gast, the IBC's national director of investigative services, said a trend he's seeing is newer model vehicles making up the top 10 lists.
“It used to be that the 2007 model year and older really dominated the list, those ones are quite easy to steal because they don't have the auto-immobilizers or theft deterrent systems on board,” Gast said. “Now we're starting to see the trend even in the Atlantic provinces (to newer vehicles), which historically hasn't been the case.”
He said not all thefts of newer model cares are a result of the theft of the key fob frequency using technology.
“We're trying to educate the consumers not to leave their keys in the vehicle, not to leave it idling to run into a store or in your driveway,” he said. “I think there are some practical thing that hopefully we can get the message out.”
He said while many vehicles are stolen to be shipped overseas, some are stolen for parts and others to be used to commit another crime and then dumped and burned.
The frequency theft can happen just by someone with the technology coming to the front door and stealing the key fob frequency without ever touching the key or being inide.
“It seems to be an upward trend now in North America,” Gast said. “We work with th emanufacturers and they try to find solutions to prevent that, but criminals are very sophisticated as well and have access to technology and money.”
A vehicle is stolen in Canada about every six minutes.
Lists for other regionals are available at ibc.ca
