Overall auto theft declining but violent attempts to steal cars are up: Ontario minister

Ontario’s recently appointed minister responsible for dealing with the province’s auto theft crisis says the government is seeing early indications the number of vehicles being stolen is falling but instances of violent theft have dramatically increased.

Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform Graham McGregor said the total number of vehicles taken has dropped, and up to 50 per cent of those stolen are found and returned by police. The nature of the crimes being committed, however, is becoming more troubling, he said.

“We’ve seen numbers go down a little bit this year compared to last year,” McGregor said in an interview on Focus Ontario. “We’ve seen the violent interactions go way up — so carjackings, violent home invasions where people are trying to steal car keys.”

Year-on-year, McGregor said auto theft overall was down by between 14 per cent and 17 per cent. The number of violent crimes has increased at the same time, he said, citing a doubling of last year’s figures in both Peel and York regions, alongside a 60 per cent increase in Toronto.

“We’ve got lot of work to do on this file, I think all levels of government (do),” he said.

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The issue of auto theft grew into a crisis through 2023, with the federal government convening a national summit on the issue early this year. Police forces across the province reported brazen vehicle key robberies and mid-journey carjackings.

High-profile victims like Toronto Maple Leaf Mitch Marner only drew attention to the issue, as did comments from a Toronto police officer, advising residents to leave their car keys by the door to limit the extent of violent home invasions.

The province has rolled out a number of measures to try and stem the flow of thefts, and implored the federal government to make changes at the Port of Montreal, where vehicles can be shipped out of the country.

Ontario introduced a potential lifetime driving ban for those found guilty of auto theft offences and recently proposed changes to more harshly punish those who fraudulently register stolen vehicles.

One way to reduce auto theft, McGregor said, is to improve the police solve rate.

“We also look at how many cars are we actually able to find,” he said.

“Right now, depending on your police service, (they) are able to recover between 40 and 50 per cent of cars that are stolen. We believe the more of those cars that we recover, the lower auto theft will go down because it’ll just become less lucrative for organized crime.”

McGregor was appointed to his new role during a mini cabinet shuffle in August, a sign the government said, of how seriously it is taking the issue.

Focus Ontario premiers at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, on Global TV.

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