Earlier this month, Toronto Police charged a Scarborough resident with “recklessly discharging” a gun at suspects who were attempting to steal his car from his driveway. While the incident caused no injuries, a neighbour’s home was reportedly damaged.
As a straight indictable offence, the Scarborough car thief victim faces a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment. With a good defence lawyer, the victim should at the least be able to get the charges reduced to careless use of a firearm, which only carries a maximum sentence of two-years.
As for the alleged car thieves, they successfully fled the scene and—given exceptionally low police motor vehicle theft clearance rates—will likely continue their illegal profession. Had the car thief suspects been arrested, they would have faced a maximum 10-year sentence if convicted. This assumes that no violence was committed during the offence and that they were not part of a criminal organization. These aggravating factors raise the maximum penalty to a 14-year prison sentence.
The Greater Toronto Area criminal defence lawyers of Mass Tsang sympathize with the victim in this case. Motor vehicle theft is rampant in the GTA; the police fail to catch many of the perpetrators, and the potential punishment faced by the victim seems excessive. While we’d like to take a closer look at this victim’s case, at this juncture, we’re going to examine what you need to know about motor vehicle theft in Canada. Read on.
According to 2025 Statistics Canada data , police agencies investigated over 83,000 reported motor vehicle thefts that year, of which over one-third—30,354—were reported in Ontario. This recent reported national figure represents a healthy drop from the 115,155 reported in 2023. However, before 2007, annual motor vehicle theft numbers consistently topped 150,000 by a wide margin. The numbers likely dropped in part in response to Criminal Code changes that made motor vehicle theft a distinct charge with enhanced penalties beyond those for ordinary theft.
From a criminal justice perspective, statistics suggest that motor vehicle theft has historically been one of the country’s least cleared property crimes by police. While Statistics Canada has not released any recent clearance rates for the offence, in 2010 it reported a 13.5% rate, of which just over half—7.4%—were cleared by charges.
The latest criminal court data suggests clearance rates remain woefully low. Roughly 5,772 motor vehicle cases per year were adjudicated in Canadian courts between 2015 and 2024, with fewer than half resulting in convictions.
Motor vehicle theft in Canada is specifically addressed by Section 333.1 of the Criminal Code, as an addendum to the general definition of theft in Section 322. The provision makes the theft of a motor vehicle a hybrid offence that the Crown can opt to charge by indictment or summary conviction. As an indictable offence, the crime carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence upon conviction. When charged as a summary conviction offence, the maximum term is two years. Third and subsequent convictions carry a mandatory minimum six-month sentence, whether charged by indictment or summary conviction.
Motor vehicle thefts involving violence or threats of violence are charged solely as an indictable offence, which carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence. Likewise for cases involving connections with a criminal organization.
Section 335 of the Code details the separate, but distinct, offence of taking a motor vehicle or vessel without consent, aka “joyriding.” The legal distinction between this offence and motor vehicle theft is that the alleged offender is believed to have lacked the full intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. Joyriding is a summary conviction offence that carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Experienced criminal defence lawyers can draw on a range of defence strategies to defend their clients in motor vehicle theft cases. In many cases, the Crown must rely extensively on circumstantial evidence, which is frequently open to different interpretations. The Crown must prove the underlying elements of the theft, which include the “intent” to deprive the owner of the property, and a fraudulent, unrightful taking of it. Overall, common legal defences in motor vehicle theft cases include:
If you’ve been charged with motor vehicle theft in the Greater Toronto Area, the theft and fraud lawyers of Mass Tsang may be able to tailor an innovative defence strategy to overcome or mitigate the charges. With longstanding expertise and legal success in motor vehicle theft cases, our lawyers stand ready to help you strategize an effective defence. To learn more about our legal defence approach in motor vehicle theft cases, contact our legal experts 24/7 for a free consultation.
The Criminal Code describes a motor vehicle as a “vehicle that is drawn, propelled or driven by any means other than muscular power, but does not include railway equipment.” This generally includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, and similar vehicles.
No. Vessels are not identified as motor vehicles under Section 333.1 of the Code or by Canadian courts. However, they are covered by the joyriding provision in the Code. In general, thefts of boats are charged via the general over/under $5,000 value theft category in the Code.
No. Carjacking is covered under Section 333.1 of the Criminal Code as an aggravated form of motor vehicle theft based on violence used or threatened. It carries a harsher maximum 14-year prison sentence upon conviction.
Yes, including:
It depends. Canadian law does not allow the use of deadly force to protect property. However, should car thieves give you reason to believe that they may seriously injure or kill you or other persons during the commission of their crime, you likely have legal self-defence justification to use excessive force, whether by firearm or another weapon. Thus, shooting an armed carjacker likely represents legal self-defence, whereas, shooting an unarmed suspect trying to drive away with your car doesn’t.
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Legally Reviewed by
Jeff Mass
| Updated: August 28, 2026
