The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has released its annual list of Ontario’s most frequently stolen vehicles and last year, the Chevrolet Tahoe and Silverado topped the list.
The top ten vehicles stolen in 2018 were:
According to IBC’s theft analysts, they believe that many of these vehicles are targeted as part of a trade-based money laundering scheme. “Often, organized crime rings commit auto thefts and the proceeds are used to fund criminal activities,” they said. “The low recovery rate of stolen vehicles indicates the involvement of organized crime and that stolen vehicles are being exported from Canadian ports and border cities.” According to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, these organized crime groups operate primarily out of Montreal and Toronto.
IBC estimates that each year, automobile theft costs Canadians close to $1 billion: $542 million for insurers to fix or replace stolen vehicles, $250 million in police, health care and court system costs and millions more for correctional services.
To protect your vehicles from theft, IBC recommends the following:
