Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. My name is Guillaume Lamy, and I am the senior vice-president, personal lines, at Intact Financial Corporation.
Intact is Canada's leading and largest provider of property and casualty insurance. One in four Canadians from coast to coast count on us to protect their homes, cars and businesses. We play a critical role in managing difficult situations, including accidents and natural disasters.
I want to thank the committee for the invitation to appear today on this important issue.
Intact was pleased to have participated in the national summit on combatting auto theft. I'm encouraged that the discussions remain ongoing as we await the release of the national action plan.
I do want to acknowledge the additional measures announced in this week's budget 2024 that will provide law enforcement with additional tools to combat theft. Intact was pleased to see this continued momentum, and we look forward to future strategic measures.
As we heard at the summit, this is not an issue that the insurance industry, law enforcement, manufacturers or government can tackle alone. This is a national crisis that requires a whole-of-society approach to solve. We look forward to bridging the gap between discussion and concrete action to protect Canadians and promote the well-being of our communities.
At Intact, we have been at the forefront of the auto theft crisis, taking the initial calls and witnessing first-hand the impact of theft on our customers. For more than a year, we have been acting forcefully on multiple fronts to address this growing issue. This includes working closely with provincial regulators to raise awareness around theft trends; partnering with companies such as Tag to offer Intact customers the opportunity to install aftermarket tracking devices on their vehicles, sometimes entirely paid for by us, or at a preferred rate; and ramping up communication efforts through our broker channels to encourage customers to protect their vehicles.
Our efforts to date have certainly helped to prevent theft, but they do not address the source of the problem. The sad reality is that Canada has become a prime target for vehicle theft. As this committee has heard and as predicted, auto thefts have continued to be very high since the beginning of 2024. While this is a national problem, it is most prevalent in Ontario and Quebec.
The fact is that criminals, including those in organized crime, see vehicle theft in Canada as a low-risk, high-reward crime. The ability to steal vehicles is increasingly easy, and the penalties for doing so are not strong enough. Whether vehicles are exported or revinned, the profit margins are very high. We need to create the change that moves Canada from a target destination, where organized crime groups easily source vehicles, to a country where cars are too difficult to steal and export to bother trying.
What we've seen in the past couple of years is that theft is what I call a whack-a-mole problem. Targeting specific cars for protection only diverts thieves to another make or model and addressing the issue in one jurisdiction drives bad actors to other opportunities.
Intact recognizes that the cost of living remains top of mind for many Canadians. The unfortunate reality is that vehicle theft is a key reason for increasing premiums for all customers.
We all have a role to play in combatting this trend. This is not an issue that's going to subside without continued action.
From our perspective, continued investments in the CBSA are critical to enhanced investigative and enforcement work. We've seen the positive impacts of a coordinated approach between CBSA and law enforcement, which has led to recoveries and seizures at our rail yards and ports over the past few months, and even in recent weeks. This is very encouraging, but we know that there is more work to be done.
In looking at the U.S., we can see where a harmonization of export rules would provide an enhanced level of protection. For example, in the U.S., a vehicle must be presented 72 hours prior to departure as an export requirement. Introducing the same rule in Canada would allow for more vehicles to be searched prior to export, and ensure the actual VIN matches what is declared on the export declaration form.
We know that auto theft rings are thriving in the current environment because they are so adept at using technology to their advantage. The criminal landscape continues to evolve, and this underscores how important it is for us to always stay ahead of the curve.
The motor vehicle safety regulations have not been updated since 2007. This is an issue that urgently needs to be addressed since we absolutely need anti-theft technology and the latest safety measures to prevent theft.
Finally, information sharing is critical to combatting the trends we continue to see.
We welcome the recent investment directed to Interpol's joint transnational vehicle crime project. Continued targeted investments such as this will lead to the recovery of more stolen vehicles.
Data-driven partnerships and information disclosure between the public and private sectors has been successful in U.S. jurisdictions. Canada would no doubt see similar success by enhancing the sharing of data.
In closing, I want to thank the committee once again for the invitation and for keeping this critical discussion going.
Rest assured that Intact will always be ready to offer its expertise and resources to ensure the safety and resilience of the community and to protect Canadians from this public safety issue.