Efforts to curb the theft of catalytic converters in Winnipeg have proven successful, with provincial legislation and police enforcement slamming the brakes on the once-rampant crime.
Data from the Winnipeg Police Service shows the number of reported catalytic converter thefts dropped to 12 cases citywide so far in 2024, down from 236 in roughly the same period last year.
The reduction came in the wake of the Scrap Metal Act and a concerted police effort to crack down on the crime.
“The Scrap Metal Act made major changes that really stymied who could buy and sell these items.… There are not a lot of dealers now who are willing to take a chance and take these products in because it’s illegal to do so,” WPS spokesperson Const. Dani McKinnon said Monday.
The former Progressive Conservative government reined in scrap-metal sales in July 2022, legislating Manitoba metal recyclers to document and photograph all converters purchased, and hand over their records to local authorities weekly.
ETHAN CAIRNS / FREE PRESS FILES
Efforts to curb the theft of catalytic converters in Winnipeg have proven successful, with provincial legislation and police enforcement slamming the brakes on the once-rampant crime.
Scrap dealers must also obtain detailed information from all prospective metal sellers, including their government ID, a photograph of their face, a physical description and a written explanation of how they acquired the materials.
Converters are part of a vehicle’s exhaust system, converting pollutants to less toxic material. They’re valuable because they contain trace amounts of precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.
WPS previously described their theft and sale as fetching a “lucrative” sum, saying scrap yards would pay between $100 and $500 per unit.
Under the Scrap Metal Act, recyclers are no longer allowed to pay cash for converters or any sales worth more than $50.
“This was excellent legislation and it actually put the onus on scrap-metal recyclers to make sure they weren’t taking in the proceeds of crime,” Tory justice critic Wayne Balcaen said of the latest WPS statistics.
“The fact is, the people who were doing this are aware now that they can’t just do the theft and bring it forward to a scrap recycler without the ramifications of having to identify themselves.”
“The fact is, the people who were doing this are aware now that they can’t just do the theft and bring it forward to a scrap recycler without the ramifications of having to identify themselves.”–Wayne Balcaen
Balcaen, a former chief of police in Brandon, was part of the stakeholder group that helped draft the legislation. He said its success is an example of government, organizations and police services working in concert.
Winnipeg Crime Stoppers conducted multiple public awareness campaigns after the Scrap Metal Act was enacted, which also motivated people to take precautions to protect their vehicles, McKinnon said.
“There’s a number of factors we can talk about that have likely contributed to these great fluctuations, but really I think the No. 1 is education to the public,” she said.
WPS logged a total of 344 reported catalytic converter thefts in Winnipeg last year, down from 1,801 in 2022.
The crime spiked across the province in 2022 when it rose to 2,230 from 1,969 the previous year, data from Manitoba Public Insurance shows.
Last year, the crime was reported 550 times in Manitoba. As of April 14, the numbers were at 31, MPI said.
Melissa Button, a staff member at Penner Auto Body Ltd., said automotive dealers have seen the legislation’s impact first-hand.
“Right when they started it, we started getting way less people coming in,” she said. “It used to be really frequent, but now I haven’t had a call from anybody regarding (a stolen catalytic converter) in a very long time.… We are glad to hear it. It’s such a pain in the butt for people.”
The enforcement has made it difficult for people to sell the automotive part, even through legitimate means, Button added, saying her boyfriend recently removed the catalytic converter from his vehicle and struggled to find a purchaser.
Penner Auto Body is one of more than 80 automotive shops in Manitoba that participate in the Crime Stoppers “Save Your Cat” program, which allows drivers to have their catalytic converter engraved with the vehicle serial number and painted with high visibility paint free of charge.
Similar legislation to the Scrap Metal Act exists elsewhere in Canada, including in Alberta, Nova Scotia and B.C.
A ruling in the Alberta Court of Justice from last December found the Scrap Metal Dealers and Recyclers Identification Act — Alberta’s legislative equivalent — is unconstitutional.
Like in Manitoba, the provincial legislation requires scrap-metal purchasers to record seller’s information and provide it to police.
“The legislation does not truly regulate trade and does not address property and civil rights or administration of justice in a public manner,” Justice Heather Lamoureaux said in her written decision.
Lamoureaux concluded that the act deals solely with criminal law, which is in the federal domain, and therefore should hold “no force and effect” in the province of Alberta.
JORDAN ROSS / THE CARILLON FILE
Harvest Honda mechanic Jerry Mitchell engraves a catalytic converter using one of 50 tool kits purchased by the province for garages in the Steinbach area.
A Winnipeg scrap dealer who spoke to the Free Press anonymously agreed with the decision from Alberta, saying it is unfair to ask recyclers to collect personal information from metal sellers.
“They brought in the act here in Manitoba especially to deal with the catalytic converters, but it’s one of these situations where it almost seemed they were trying to hit flies with a baseball bat.”–Winnipeg scrap dealer
“The dealers don’t need this sort of thing,” he said by phone. “They brought in the act here in Manitoba especially to deal with the catalytic converters, but it’s one of these situations where it almost seemed they were trying to hit flies with a baseball bat.”
The man said reputable metal dealers already had safeguards in place.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’ city desk. Since joining the paper in 2022, he has found himself driving through blizzards, documenting protests and scouring the undersides of bridges for potential stories.