Stolen cars are ending up at dealerships. New CBSA data sharing could help catch more of them

As of this week, the Canada Border Services Agency is taking steps that could help close what some experts call a loophole that has made it easier for thieves to disguise stolen vehicles. 

CBC Toronto has learned that as of Tuesday, CBSA has begun sharing some vehicle export data with CARFAX and Équité Association, and is exploring the possibility of sharing it with other stakeholders, too.  

It is unclear exactly how CARFAX, a company that provides vehicle history reports, and Équité Association, a non-profit insurance fraud watchdog, will be using the CBSA data, but it could signal improvements in catching stolen vehicles. 

Experts say vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on legally exported vehicles are highly sought after by criminals, who clone the unique serial number — typically found in several locations, including the dashboard — and put it on a stolen vehicle in Canada, also known as re-VINing. With no way for dealers, buyers or provincial ministries to verify if a vehicle has been exported, some well-disguised stolen vehicles have been slipping through the cracks undetected. 

The Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario has been calling on the CBSA for more than a year to make exported VIN information available. The organization's executive director says sharing the data with CARFAX is a good start, though he says more can be done to make the information available to others. 

Police and governments across the country have been working to crack down on auto theft, which has ballooned in recent years. Between 2021 and 2023, it increased by close to a third, reaching a high of 70,475 incidents, according to statistics from the Équité Association. Policing and policy efforts appear to be making a difference, with car thefts down 18.6 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

Experts say there are three main uses for stolen vehicles. Some are illegally exported; others are taken apart and used for parts. The rest are re-VINed.

"The numbers are massive. And we're not seeing it just limited to passenger vehicles," said Det. Greg O'Connor with Peel Regional Police in Ontario. 

O'Connor says that in just the past year, his police force has investigated close to 300 re-VINed vehicles, which also includes transport trucks. 

Cloning VINs from legally exported vehicles is the preference for criminals, says Bryan Gast, vice-president of investigative services with Équité Association.

"They know that that was a legitimate VIN when it left, and the likelihood of it coming back to Ontario is extremely remote," said Gast, who previously worked in law enforcement for three decades. 

Det. Dan Kraehling, with Toronto Police, says criminals typically source exported VINs by finding online open source import data from other countries. 

"[It's] out of ease more than anything," Kraehling said. "They can pull them straight off of websites and use them for re-VINing purposes." 

Some re-VINed stolen vehicles are used by criminals to commit other crimes, while others are sold, sometimes ending up in the hands of unsuspecting customers.