The Canada Border Services Agency admits it intercepted almost no stolen vehicles at the nation’s largest port even as car thefts soared into the tens of thousands each year, according to records tabled in Parliament.Blacklock's Reporter says Conservative MP Dan Muys (Flamborough–Glanbrook, Ont.) asked how many vehicles were recovered at the ports of Montréal, Halifax, Vancouver and at Toronto shipping hubs. Agency officials replied that inspectors only act on police referrals and had no estimate of how many stolen vehicles left Canada.At the Port of Vancouver, inspectors found just 10 stolen vehicles in 2021, six in 2022 and none in 2023, the worst record of any port. By comparison, Montréal averaged 1,147 recoveries a year, Toronto 469 and Halifax 125.This despite evidence to the Commons public safety committee that about 70,000 vehicles were stolen annually nationwide, costing insurers $1.2 billion..An internal 2024 audit said the agency assigned only 207 staff to criminal investigations across all ports, airports and border crossings, with just 39 at West Coast ports. Those investigators were also tasked with tracking gun smugglers, fugitives and money launderers. The agency spent $35.7 million a year on the program.Management admitted inspectors were told to focus on complex, multi-layered criminal schemes rather than what it called “isolated incidents” like stolen cars being shipped overseas. “There are areas for improvement,” said the report.
