If your car has ever disappeared overnight, you already know the specific dread of walking out in the morning to an empty parking spot.
The truth is Montreal has always had its share of vehicle theft, but the past few years pushed that reality into uncomfortable territory for a lot of residents.
While numbers have been pulling back, over 2,000 cars have already been reported stolen on the island so far in 2026, according to data from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), tracked through the city’s Vue sur la sécurité publique interactive mapping tool.
That puts the city roughly on pace with 2025, when the full-year total landed at 5,052.
The map plots each reported theft individually and can be filtered by neighbourhood, date range and crime type, giving a clearer picture of where incidents are concentrated than any borough-level summary can.
Where thefts are happening
Results from June 5, 2026.Vue sur la sécurité publique interactive mapping tool
The east end is carrying the heaviest load by a significant margin. The Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve corridor and the areas stretching north through Rosemont, Villeray and into the François-Perrault zone show the densest clusters on the map. Montreal North also registers prominently at the top of the island.
Central Montreal — the NDG, Côte-des-Neiges and Hampstead area — shows moderate activity, while Verdun and the south-facing edge of the island have their own visible concentrations.
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Pointe-Claire and Beaconsfield show noticeably thinner clusters compared to the eastern and central parts of the island, though incidents are scattered throughout.
What’s being targeted
Where your car is parked matters, but so does what you’re driving. According to Équité Association’s most recent provincial rankings, the Toyota RAV4 ranked as Quebec’s most stolen vehicle in 2024, with 921 thefts reported across the province. The Honda CR-V and Honda Civic followed, with the Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Highlander rounding out the top five. Small and midsize SUVs with keyless entry systems make up the bulk of the list.
If you own one of those models and live in one of the higher-activity zones on the map, the combination of location and vehicle type is worth taking seriously. Équité recommends visible anti-theft devices, keeping key fobs away from doors and windows, parking indoors when possible, and considering a GPS tracker if your model appears on the list.
How 2026 compares
Car theft in Montreal spiked sharply in 2022 and 2023, with the 2023 total hitting 9,623 (the highest figure in at least a decade). Numbers have been pulling back since then, dropping to 7,287 in 2024 and 5,052 in 2025.
Here’s how the annual totals have looked going back to 2016:
- 2016: 3,508
- 2017: 3,904
- 2018: 3,409
- 2019: 3,406
- 2020: 3,924
- 2021: 5,451
- 2022: 7,900
- 2023: 9,623
- 2024: 7,287
- 2025: 5,052
At the current pace, 2026 (2,025 thefts so far) is tracking toward a total in the low-to-mid 4,000s, which would mark the first time the city has been below the 2021 level since the theft surge began, and a meaningful step back toward the pre-pandemic baseline.
If you want to check activity on your specific street or neighbourhood, the SPVM’s interactive map is available through the City of Montreal’s website, where you can filter by crime type, date range and location.