Thieves often park a car nearby after stealing it. Here’s why

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It’s becoming extremely burdensome to own a vehicle in Canada, with around 90,000 cars stolen each year, the federal government estimates. That’s one car every six minutes, Public Safety Canada said in a statement in February.

These thefts are spurring higher insurance rates — $1.2 billion in theft claims were paid out in 2022, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said — and “in the worst cases, leaving [Canadians] out of pocket for tens of thousands of dollars,” according to the National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft that was released this month.

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Canadians have been scrambling to come up with solutions on their own, including using tracking devices. But thieves have figured out a way to ensure that no one is on their trail before moving a stolen vehicle.

What is a ‘cooling-off’ period?

After a vehicle is stolen, thieves will often leave the vehicle near where it was initially taken, CAA Quebec spokesperson and former police commander André Durocher told CTV News.

The owners of an SUV stolen in Montreal in March recently received a parking ticket in the mail that was issued five days after the vehicle was taken. It turns out, the vehicle was only seven kilometres from the couple’s home. In October 2022, a similar incident occurred in Oakville. A man received two parking tickets in the mail a month after his vehicle was stolen. One was dated the day after his car was stolen; the other was dated more than a week after. Both tickets were issued near his home, CTV News reported.

“They want to see if there’s going to be police surveillance to check the vehicle, if there was a tag [to track it], so it’s very standard procedure for car theft rings to function that way,” said Durocher.

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The stolen cars are then re-sold, used for parts or used to commit other crimes, according to the Toronto Police Service. The length of time for a cooling off period can vary depending on what the intended use of the vehicle is, but it can be days or weeks.

Although it doesn’t work for all car owners, the cooling off period makes it possible for some to track down their vehicles and get them back. That was the case for a woman living in Ottawa who put a tracking device in her Jeep in December 2022. She alerted police and they recovered the vehicle together only a few kilometres away from her home, CBC News reported.

What can vehicle owners do?

The Toronto Police Service offers advice on how to prevent vehicle theft by taking several precautions. When parking at home, they recommend installing a motion sensor light and always setting the emergency brake. They also said drivers should never leave anything on display in a vehicle, including “purses left in the front seat when pumping gas and power cords to run and charge devices as these may attract thieves to your vehicle.”

A car alarm can be installed as a deterrent, although it’s not a guarantee of keeping thieves away, they said. A visible steering wheel lock can also deter thieves. Owners should consider installing an ignition kill switch. They “prevent your vehicle from starting without it being turned on” — which is how many thieves gain access to vehicles.

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“As only you will know its hidden location, it is a good deterrent against thieves,” according to the TPS website. “In the event that you have this switch installed, contact your insurer and ask for a discount.”

Drivers should alert police with the following information, if their vehicle is stolen: the year and make, model, colour(s) of the vehicle, licence number, vehicle identification number (VIN), serial numbers of all special equipment and any special markings.

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