Vehicle thefts in N.B. pave way for double-digit insurance rate hikes

Allyson McCormack · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 10, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 10

Nicole Wilby's Jeep Grand Cherokee hasn't moved for the past fewer weeks. The rims and assemblage of the conveyance are dented, scratched and covered successful mud.  

The rearview reflector has besides been ripped off, and the cord that connected it to the conveyance has been torched. 

Wilby is waiting to get the Jeep successful for repairs, but for now, she's blessed to person it back.

Her conveyance was stolen from her driveway successful a quiescent downtown Fredericton cul-de-sac precocious past month, and the theft was caught connected camera.

"I noticed that astatine 4:45 a.m., determination was a video of idiosyncratic conscionable virtually driving away," Wilby said. "There is nary break-in, nary rummaging astir the car, conscionable it starting and driving away."

That aforesaid night, Wilby's neighbour recorded idiosyncratic approaching his driveway, past disappearing, past appearing  again walking away. Wilby and her neighbour believe this idiosyncratic was holding what's known arsenic a Wi-Fi jammer, which blocks the awesome for surveillance systems specified arsenic theirs.

"There's thing before, they're conscionable successful the car and driving away," she said of what the video shows. "It was an alarming feeling and was truly unsettling."

It's a feeling that has been increasing successful New Brunswick arsenic thefts go much sophisticated, sometimes outsmarting information systems connected properties, or removing things specified as rearview mirrors, which can hold astute technologies for tracking and monitoring. 

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, car thefts person tripled successful New Brunswick successful the past 10 years, with astir 2,000 conveyance thefts past twelvemonth successful RCMP territory alone. 

In the latest information from the New Brunswick Insurance Board, determination were much than 534,000 vehicles connected the roadworthy successful the province.  

WATCH | Cameras nary deterrent to car thieves: 

Earlier this year, large car insurers, including Personal, Certas, Wawanesa and Primmum won double-digit complaint increases from the New Brunswick Insurance Board, citing, successful part, rising car thefts. 

Michèle Pelletier, New Brunswick's user advocator for insurance, said immoderate double-digit summation is "a large increase," particularly the 18 per cent hikes for Personal and Certas.

"When we spot rising claims, it's each of america that are going to wage for it," she said. "It's galore insurers that wage for a fewer claims. So we're each enactment successful the aforesaid bag, and past it's divided. So it's precise unfortunate."

Pelletier said determination are much than 30 insurers successful New Brunswick, truthful it's ever champion to store astir and comparison prices. 

Some companies connection discounts oregon rebates for vehicles equipped with anti-theft devices specified arsenic GPS tracking systems oregon steering instrumentality locks. But portion it mightiness prevention wealth connected security rates, Pelletier admits determination are inactive nary guarantees your car volition beryllium determination successful the morning. 

"It takes virtually little than 3 minutes to bargain your vehicle," she said. "Sometimes it's the question of seconds. They're truly organized and … they person each kinds of things to bash successful bid not to get caught."

Vehicle located by Sirius 

According to the Équité Association's 2024 Auto Theft Trend Report released successful February, 64 per cent of vehicles stolen successful Atlantic Canada are recovered. 

In Wilby's case, it was the built-in SiriusXM Guardian, a connected car work that includes stolen conveyance tracking, that located her jeep.

Even though she didn't subscribe to the service, she was capable to motion up for an relationship and rapidly get the information.

"They were really capable to way my conveyance wrong fractional an hr of maine mounting up the account," she said. "They notified the constabulary arsenic they didn't privation america to amusement up to the scene. And past the constabulary notified america erstwhile we were capable to retrieve the conveyance afterwards."

Wilby said it's a alleviation to person her conveyance back, but it'll request immoderate repairs earlier it's acceptable for the road.

"The rims and the broadside assemblage of the conveyance are dented and scratched successful antithetic ways, and they were covered successful mud," Wilby said. "So I'm assuming determination was a spot of a joyousness thrust that happened."

"And connected the interior, it was wholly covered successful dirt, and my rearview reflector was really ripped retired of the extortion of the conveyance and the cord was burned. They assumed the tracking strategy was wrong and was lone connected to the cord that was wrong of the rearview mirror, but luckily that was not the case."

Region bucks nationalist theft trend

The spike successful car thefts was deemed "a nationalist crisis" by the Insurance Bureau of Canada successful 2022, with Canada emerging arsenic 1 of the apical 10 sources of stolen vehicles, among 137 countries sharing information with Interpol. 

But this benignant of theft is present connected the decline. Canada had an 18.6 per cent alteration successful car thefts past year, with a driblet successful each portion but the East Coast.

There was nary alteration year-over-year successful this region.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette said it's hard to accidental wherefore that's the case. 

He said that successful New Brunswick areas where RCMP has jurisdiction, "a batch of the times the vehicles are being stolen to either beryllium taken arsenic a joyride and past dumped aboriginal connected oregon besides being taken to past perpetrate their crimes."

Ouellette said determination whitethorn beryllium immoderate that are besides taken and shipped overseas — but a ample bulk are recovered.

He recommended that people adhd aggregate layers of protection, including locking the doors, parking successful a well-lit country oregon garage, and putting car keys successful a Faraday cage astatine night, truthful criminals are incapable to transcript the awesome from a cardinal fob.

"Thieves being precise technologically precocious with antithetic things to assistance them, either interruption into a conveyance or copy the cardinal oregon the awesome of the cardinal to beryllium capable to entree the vehicle. So what we tin bash present astatine location is marque our spot little appealing."

Ouellette said determination volition besides beryllium times erstwhile those protective layers aren't enough, and if that happens, helium recommended calling constabulary close distant to "try to retrieve your conveyance arsenic rapidly arsenic possible."