In terms of raw crime stats, Statistics Canada lists motor vehicle theft as slightly on the rise from 2020 to 2021, but down substantially from 2011[1]. Intere

In terms of raw crime stats, Statistics Canada lists motor vehicle theft as slightly on the rise from 2020 to 2021, but down substantially from 2011[1]. Interestingly, this page[2] shows a breakdown of several years leading up to the latest stats which show that it was out of control prior to the pandemic and 2020 was the best year recently (I assume because many were at home so less opportunity). The concerning thing might be though, that the number of people charged has not substantially changed, despite the number of thefts decreasing by about 9000 (~11%) in 2020. Police services across the country seem to charge roughly 5500 people with auto theft each year, though slightly down recently with youth dropping significantly. The article's focus on how this is a sudden problem when the rates are substantially lower (as of the 2021 data) than they were in 2019 is pretty weird. It also appears to be incorrect about the numbers of vehicle thefts in 2015. They claim it's 3284 but StatsCan lists just Toronto as having 6623 in 2015.[3] This all does point to a failure by Toronto PD (and bigger picture, other police departments) to enforce, and might explain the relative explosion of vehicle theft. In the years 2015 through 2021, the maximum amount of people they have charged with motor vehicle theft is 514. In that same span, thefts rose from 6623 to 14,032. Since it doesn't seem to be punished, just do more of it I guess. The difference in numbers appears to come from the fact that their linked report is using only Toronto PD's reporting but they aren't going to have all of the numbers because Ontario's provincial police force also operates in and around the city. [1]: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00013/tbl/tbl03-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article... [2]: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&pickMembers%5B1%5D=2.69&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2017&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20170101%2C20210101 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=351001... [3]: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.19&pickMembers%5B1%5D=2.69&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2015&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20150101%2C20210101 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=351001...