182,361
Statistics
Retail theft in Canada: statistics to know in 2026
The latest complete national figures cover 2024. Here are the confirmed numbers, what they measure, and the limits that matter.
+14%
compared with 2023, marking a fourth consecutive annual increase
1.5%
average inventory shrink rate reported by RCC and LPRC
Latest data
The latest complete national data still covers 2024
Statistics Canada counted 182,361 police-reported shoplifting incidents of $5,000 or under in 2024. That corresponds to 442 incidents per 100,000 population.
The number of incidents increased 14% from 2023. This was the fourth consecutive annual increase, and the 2024 rate was 66% higher than in 2014.
As of July 2026, no complete national series for 2025 or 2026 is used here. The publication date of an article should not be confused with the year covered by the data.
The 182,361 figure represents incidents reported to police. It does not measure every theft that occurred in Canadian stores.
Inventory losses
Shoplifting and inventory shrink are not the same measure
The Retail Council of Canada and the Loss Prevention Research Council report an average inventory shrink rate of 1.5% of sales and estimate its value at about $9 billion in Canada.
That estimate is not limited to shoplifting. Inventory losses can also come from errors, damage, receiving processes, checkout processes, and internal causes.
The 1.5% figure is useful for estimating an order of magnitude, but it does not replace a retailer's own data.
Team safety
The industry report also highlights violence
In the RCC and LPRC survey, 76.2% of responding retailers reported an increase in violence during theft incidents. The report also mentions 121 weapons seized during RCC-coordinated operations in 2024.
These findings come from an industry survey representing more than 20,000 locations and $68 billion in sales. They describe the study respondents and should not be presented as a census of every Canadian retailer.
Interpretation
Turn national statistics into local measures
Establish a baseline
Compare losses, incidents, and sensitive categories over a defined period.
Prioritize areas
Identify aisles, checkouts, exits, and receiving areas where an intervention is possible.
Measure response time
Track the time between an alert, verification, and team action.
Separate causes
Distinguish shoplifting, checkout discrepancies, damage, and administrative errors.
Document carefully
Avoid automatically attributing every loss to one person or one cause.
Review the plan
Adjust camera coverage and procedures using observed results.
References
Sources used
The data is dated, and industry findings are identified as such.
Blog
Start by checking the areas, images, and procedures.
An assessment identifies what can be analyzed usefully before discussing equipment or expected outcomes.