Vehicle Thefts Up
At the last Foothills County Policing Committee meeting on September 9th, 2025, the Okotoks RCMP detachment stated that vehicle thefts have increased. When questioned as to the modus operandi of the thefts, the reply was that there is an increasing use of more sophisticated electronic theft methods being used.
W5 published a story in November 2024 about a device “that can be used to clone a car’s key fob and drive it away”. W5 purchased one of the devices and were successful in “stealing” a vehicle.
According to the W5 article, a mechanic in Ontario recommends a small device that can be installed within a car that requires a password to put the car in drive called the Igla. Their website is https://iglacanada.ca/ a Canadian company if you are interested in following up.
The Equite Association, an organization for protecting Canadians from insurance fraud and crime has statistics for the most recent data (2023) on the most stolen vehicles in Canada. In Alberta, the most stolen vehicles differ considerably from the Canadian list in that thieves target bigger vehicles.
Here is Alberta’s Most Stolen Vehicle list:
- Chev/GMC Silverado/Sierra 2500 series
- Chev/GMC Silverado/Sierra 1500 series
- Dodge RAM 1500 series
- Ford F-350 series
- Ford F-150 series
- Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Ford/Lincoln/Mercury Escape/Corsair/ MKC Mariner series
- Honda Civic
- Ford F-250 series
- Dodge RAM 2500 & Lexus RX series
This is a heads up that if you own one of these most often stolen vehicles you need to take extra precautions to protect your vehicle from theft.
Interestingly, fewer vehicles are stolen in the western provinces than in Ontario and Quebec which have high rates of theft. This is partly due to the practice in those provinces of stolen cars being driven straight to a port, into a shipping container and off to world-wide points unknown.
The recovery rate of stolen vehicles in 2023 was 54% for Canada overall. Alberta had a higher recovery rate of 77%. While the Alberta recovery rate may look good, there is the question of what kind of shape your vehicle is in when recovered. Often there is damage somewhere on the vehicle.
Stolen vehicles are used to commit other crimes. There is the danger that your vehicle was used to transport drugs. I am aware of a case where police offered the owner of a stolen, recovered vehicle the option to have it scanned for drug residue. This is done to avoid you being fingered for transporting drugs when a sniffer dog finds drug traces in your vehicle. Especially relevant if you are crossing into the US.
There are very simple habits that you can develop to significantly reduce the chances of your vehicle being stolen. The most obvious is to lock your vehicle, including when at home, even if it’s in the garage.
It should be noted that most vehicles are stolen from residences. I am aware of instances where unlocked vehicles were entered while nearby locked vehicles were left alone. If you are a thief, why waste time on a locked vehicle when there are easier targets next to it. Follow the principle of making your vehicle look harder to get into than the next one.
Another way to deter thieves using this principle is to use a steering wheel locking device. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Get into the habit of putting it on before leaving your vehicle – yes even if it’s in your locked garage behind a locked gate. Thieves only want to spend a limited amount of time on site and the more obstacles you put in their way, the less likely they are to steal something.
If you live close to a highway or main road, you are more vulnerable as it’s easier and quicker for a thief to get away. Another vulnerable location is when you leave it at the mechanics shop overnight. Use the steering wheel locking device. The potential thief can only drive one vehicle away. He’ll pick an easier, faster target parked beside you.
As winter is approaching, a reminder to not leave your vehicle running unattended. Yes, it’s a “duh” thing, but a lot of “duh” vehicle get stolen every winter.
Dave Schroeder
HCRCWA Board Member
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