Why the Civic and CR-V get stolen so often in Canada

Every year, Canada's Equite Association publishes a list of the country's ten most stolen vehicles — and every year, two Hondas sit near the top. In the latest report, the Honda CR-V was the third most stolen vehicle in Canada and the Civic was fifth, with roughly 1,900 and 1,800 thefts respectively. They sit alongside the Toyota RAV4, the Dodge Ram, and the Ford F-150 — which is to say, the most popular vehicles on the road.

That last point is the whole story. The vehicles that get stolen the most are, overwhelmingly, the vehicles people want the most. Here is why the Civic and CR-V keep making the list — and why it is not the bad news it first sounds like.

They are everywhere, so there is more to steal

The Civic and CR-V are two of the best-selling vehicles in Canadian history. The Civic has been the country's best-selling passenger car for 26 of the past 28 years, and the CR-V is its best-selling SUV. When millions of a vehicle are on the road, two things happen at once: there are simply more of them available to take, and there is enormous demand for their parts. A thief wants a sure thing, and a vehicle that is everywhere is the surest thing there is.

They hold their value

Criminals do not target vehicles that are worth nothing. The Civic and CR-V are prized precisely because they hold their value better than almost anything in their class, whether sold whole or broken down for parts. The very quality that makes them a smart purchase — strong resale value year after year — is what makes them worth stealing. It is a backhanded compliment, but a real one.

The world wants them, not just Canada

This is the part worth understanding. Honda's reputation is global. A CR-V or a Civic can be sold and serviced almost anywhere on earth, which is why Equite describes the top targets as having high demand, global serviceability, and high resale value. Organized crime moves many stolen vehicles out of Ontario and Quebec through ports such as Montreal, to be sold overseas sometimes for double their Canadian price. A thief steals what has a guaranteed buyer, and a Honda has guaranteed buyers on every continent. These cars are targeted for the same reason they are beloved: the world trusts them.

The reassuring part: your odds are lower than the headline

Here is the nuance that almost never makes the news. A vehicle can top the list on total thefts while still being statistically safe per car, simply because there are so many of them. The Civic's theft rate is about 0.26 percent and the CR-V's about 0.37 percent — which means more than 99.6 percent of them were not stolen. Compare that with a Jeep Wrangler at over one percent, or certain luxury models in Ontario where close to one in four was taken last year. So while the Civic and CR-V lead on raw numbers, any individual Civic or CR-V is far less likely to be stolen than many flashier targets. They are on the list because they are common and loved, not because they are uniquely vulnerable.

And the trend is improving

There is good news on top of that. Auto theft across Canada fell about 18 to 19 percent in 2025, the result of a federal crackdown, more cargo inspections at the ports, and more owners using simple protection. In York Region specifically, police reported auto thefts down more than a third last year. The crisis that peaked a couple of years ago is easing.

The bottom line

The Civic and CR-V appear on the most-stolen list for the same reasons they appear in millions of driveways: they are popular, they are trusted around the world, and they hold their value like few others. A thief and a smart buyer are, in a strange way, looking for the very same thing — which is a Honda. The difference is that the buyer gets to keep it.

Theft statistics referenced in this article are from the Equite Association's annual most-stolen vehicle report. Individual vehicle theft risk varies by region, neighbourhood, and security measures taken. Recovery rates and trends are based on publicly reported police and industry data.