Toronto, Ontario – Albertans, check your keys; a new report from HelloSafe.ca shows that the province is swinging well above its weight when it comes to rates of vehicle theft, and the thieve’s targets aren’t exactly what one might expect.
The report, published on Feb. 2, outlines rates of vehicle theft across Canada and showed that despite coming second to Ontario in terms of overall theft, the rate per 10,000 showed that Alberta represents a far higher proportion of vehicle thefts than many other provinces, despite its relatively small population in comparison to Ontario.
Of 87,007 vehicles stolen in 2019, Alberta accounted for 23,535 of them, closely following Ontario who reported 23,992. However, in Alberta, thefts occurred at a rate of 54.84 stolen vehicles per 10,000 people, versus Ontario’s 17.07.
It is important to note that Ontario’s population is roughly ten million people greater than Alberta.
In addition, the report identified the 2018 Honda CR-V as the most stolen vehicle in Canada, particularly targeted in Ontario and Quebec from model years 2017-2019.
Following the Honda on the list is the 2017 Lexus RX350/RX450h as the second most stolen car. As well, Toyota also had the 2017 and 2018 editions of their Highlander model appear on the list at the seven and eight spots, respectively.
Province-by-province, the results were nearly split, with the coastal and prairie provinces seeing most thefts target pickup trucks like the Ford F350 and F150, as well as the GMC Sierra and Dodge Ram.
On the other hand, central provinces like Ontario and Quebec experienced a majority of thefts on crossover SUVs like the CR-V and the RX350.
