Cost of auto theft claims rising in Alberta, data shows

Auto theft claims costs in Alberta have jumped by 65% over the past three years, hitting the biggest cities the hardest, says the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). 

Insurance claims related to auto theft totalled $110.3 million in 2024. That’s compared to $67 million in 2021. 

Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta’s two biggest cities, saw auto theft claims costs total $37 million and $28 million in 2024 — an increase of 81% and 79% from 2021, respectively. 

However, mid-sized cities such as Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, and Fort McMurray are also experiencing significant disruption from auto theft claims costs.  

In Grande Prairie, claims costs totalled more than $4.3 million — a 59% jump from three years ago. In Medicine Hat, claims costs totalled just under $3.2 million — a 53% jump; and in Fort McMurray, they totalled $529,746 — a 36% jump. 

The highest recorded year for auto theft in Canada was 2023, with reported losses reaching $1.5 billion nationwide, according to IBC. 

That same year, Alberta experienced more auto theft per capita than Ontario, according to Équité Association. Alberta experienced 252 stolen vehicles per 100,000 people, while Ontario experienced 202, and Quebec experienced 169 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people, respectively. 

Though national efforts to curb the rising trend of auto theft have paid off, the issue is still affecting vehicle owners across the country and in Alberta. 

In 2023, there were 8,710 auto thefts in Alberta RCMP jurisdictions, and 3,932 in the first six months of 2024. 

Still, Alberta auto theft decreased by 10.1% in 2024, according to Équité Association. Forty-two percent of all stolen private passenger vehicles in Alberta were trucks. 

Vehicle recovery rates in Western Canada declined from 87% to 77% year-over-year, suggesting an increase in exportation and re-VINing of vehicles, according to Équité.  

The insurance industry sees Alberta becoming a feeder province for registering stolen and re-VINed vehicles and sending them to the rest of Canada. 

Insurers’ escalating claims costs due to auto theft are coming at a bad time for the province, the P&C industry observes. “The auto theft crisis persists in Alberta at a time when the province’s auto insurance system is already under tremendous strain from tariffs, inflation, growing legal costs, and rising vehicle repair and replacement costs,” says Aaron Sutherland, IBC’s Pacific and Western vice president.  

The Alberta government has taken some measures to address auto theft, including limiting the registration of vehicles for someone else to people with an Alberta ID.  

But “much more is needed” to curb auto theft, says Sutherland. 

IBC is calling on the province to take action, including: 

• Prohibiting the vehicle information number (VIN) override function at registries, which would make it more difficult to change vehicle information for the purpose of fraud or theft; 

• Updating and standardizing vehicle bills of sale, so that it’s more difficult to resell stolen vehicles; 

• Restricting third-party vehicle registrations to dealerships, to prevent stolen or reVINed vehicles from entering the system; and 

• Implementing an Insurance Validation Program, allowing law enforcement and provincial auto registries to confirm more easily whether a vehicle has an active insurance policy.