Cargo theft in Canada stopped being a background cost and became an acute problem. According to Équité Association — which maintains Canada’s only national cargo theft database — trailer theft climbed to roughly 970 incidents nationally in 2025, up from about 570 the year before, close to double in a single year. Strong trailer yard security is now a direct operational requirement for anyone staging loaded trailers overnight. This guide covers what the data actually shows, why yards are targeted, and how to secure one properly. For the wider picture, see our warehouse security services.

What the Canadian data shows

The picture from Équité is consistent and concerning:

  • Volume is up sharply. Truck thefts rose from 591 in the first three quarters of 2024 to 984 in the same period of 2025, with trailer thefts climbing from 383 to 638.
  • Ontario carries the weight. Équité recorded roughly 1,601 thefts in Ontario in 2025, against about 240 in Alberta and 180 in Quebec, with Peel Region and the wider GTA accounting for a significant share — unsurprising given the density of distribution centres and freight terminals there. Its earlier reporting names Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Toronto, and Montreal among the top hotspots.
  • Recovery is collapsing. The national cargo recovery rate fell from 13% in 2024 to 9% in 2025, and trailer recovery dropped from 64% to 44%, reflecting how fast stolen goods move through organized networks.
  • The real number is higher. Canada has no national cargo-specific crime code, so incidents get filed under broad categories like theft over $5,000 — meaning official figures understate the problem.

Over the longer run, Équité’s inaugural trend report found thefts of trucks, trailers, and cargo loads totalled an estimated $531 million between 2019 and 2023.

Two conclusions follow. This is organized activity, not opportunism — and a stolen trailer is very unlikely to come back.

That second point deserves weight, because it changes the economics of yard security. When recovery rates were higher, a theft was partly an insurance and logistics problem; at a 9% cargo recovery rate it is effectively a permanent loss, plus the downstream costs — a customer’s order gone, a contract relationship damaged, and insurance scrutiny that increasingly follows. Équité has also noted that as coordinated enforcement pushes down auto theft, organized groups are shifting capacity toward cargo and commercial vehicle crime, which means the pressure on yards is unlikely to ease on its own.

Why trailer yards are targeted

A yard full of loaded trailers is an unusually attractive target:

  • High value, concentrated. A single trailer can hold more value than everything inside a small warehouse.
  • Mobile by design. Unlike warehouse inventory, the container is built to be towed away in minutes by anyone with a tractor.
  • Predictably empty. Yards sit unattended overnight and on weekends, which is why after-hours coverage decides outcomes.
  • Anonymous. A tractor hitching a trailer looks exactly like normal operations, even in daylight.
  • Hard to watch. Large yards with long fence lines and rows of trailers create blind corridors that fixed cameras can’t see down.

Thieves also don’t always take the whole trailer. Pilferage — opening a trailer, removing part of the load, and resealing or leaving it — is common and often discovered only at delivery, by which point the custody question is contested.

Securing the yard

Effective yard security layers access control, visibility, and response.

Control who gets in. A gated, fenced yard with verified entry is the foundation. Log every tractor and driver, and verify against your own scheduling records rather than the paperwork presented — the same discipline that prevents fraudulent pickups at the dock.

Make trailers harder to take. King pin locks, glad hand locks, and landing gear locks on loaded and staged trailers. Park nose-to-nose or against a wall so trailers can’t be hitched without moving others. Keep loaded trailers in the most observed part of the yard.

Remove the blind corridors. Lighting, sightlines, and trailer layout matter more than most operators realize. A yard organized for convenience usually creates cover; a yard organized for visibility doesn’t.

Watch the ground you can’t walk. This is where aerial drones genuinely change the equation — a drone sweeps a large yard and sees down every row in a fraction of the time a vehicle takes, including the corridors between trailers that fixed cameras never cover. Pair it with mobile patrol on varied timings and monitored cameras at gates and approaches, and you have detection plus the ability to respond.

Know what’s in your yard. Yard management discipline — knowing which trailers are present, loaded, and due — means an absence gets noticed in hours rather than at the customer’s delivery window. The gap between a theft happening and anyone realizing it is the single biggest factor in whether a trailer is ever recovered, and in many operations that gap is measured in days.

Report it properly. Because there’s no cargo-specific crime code, how an incident is reported affects whether it ever registers in the national picture. Reporting promptly and in detail — to police, your insurer, and through industry channels — supports recovery efforts and contributes to the data the sector needs to argue for better tracking.

Staging loaded trailers overnight? Book a consultation and we’ll assess your yard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How bad is cargo theft in Canada right now?
Ans. Équité Association recorded trailer theft rising to roughly 970 incidents nationally in 2025, up from about 570 in 2024 — close to doubling in a year — with truck thefts also climbing sharply.

Q2. Where is cargo theft concentrated?
Ans. Ontario, with around 1,601 thefts recorded in 2025 compared with roughly 240 in Alberta and 180 in Quebec. Peel Region and the GTA account for a significant share, alongside Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Toronto, and Montreal.

Q3. What are the chances of recovering a stolen trailer?
Ans. Lower than they were. Trailer recovery fell from 64% in 2024 to 44% in 2025, and the national cargo recovery rate dropped from 13% to 9%, so prevention matters far more than recovery.

Q4. Is official cargo theft data complete?
Ans. No. Canada has no cargo-specific crime code, so incidents are recorded under broad categories like theft over $5,000, which means published figures understate the true scale.

Q6. What locks actually help?
Ans. King pin, glad hand, and landing gear locks on loaded and staged trailers, combined with parking arrangements that prevent a trailer being hitched without moving others.

Q7. What is cargo pilferage?
Ans. It’s partial theft — opening a trailer, removing some of the load, then resealing or leaving it. It’s often discovered only at delivery, which makes custody and seal records critical.

Q8. How do drones help secure a trailer yard?
Ans. A drone can sweep a large yard and see down every row far faster than a ground patrol, covering the corridors between trailers that fixed cameras can’t observe.

Q9. Does fencing alone protect a yard?
Ans. No. Fencing raises effort but doesn’t stop a tractor with access. It works as one layer alongside access verification, locks, lighting, monitoring, and response.

Q10. What’s the first step to improving yard security?
Ans. Verify how someone would enter, hitch, and leave with a trailer tonight — then close whichever step is easiest. Usually it’s entry verification or the absence of trailer locks.

Cargo theft in Canada is organized, rising, and increasingly unrecoverable. Control yard access, lock and park trailers deliberately, light and lay out the yard for visibility, and add detection that can actually see between the rows. Prevention is the only part of this equation you control.

Ready to secure your trailer yard? Request a consultation with our warehouse team.