PM Trudeau calls National Summit as Canada auto thefts spike

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is holding a summit next month to coordinate a national response to a massive spike in auto thefts across Canada in recent years, Report informs, citing Bloomberg.

Toronto, Canada’s largest city, has borne the brunt of the crime wave, according to statistics from the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association. The Toronto region saw 9,600 vehicles stolen in 2022, a 300% increase in annual thefts compared to 2015. Carjackings doubled in 2022 compared to 2021, police statistics show.

Overall, the year-over-year rate of vehicle theft spiked in 2022 by 50% in the province of Quebec, 48.3% in Ontario, and 34.5% in Atlantic Canada, a government news release said.