Terri O'Brien

This March Fraud Prevention Month (FPM) was our most expansive awareness initiative to date, and underscored the experience of our Member Engagement, Marketing and Communications team. This year we featured more members than ever before in our thought-leadership profiles and expanded our audience reach by making our LinkedIn campaign completely bilingual.

In 2026, Équité Association is placing a heightened focus on the impacts of artificial intelligence on insurance crime and fraud. Throughout 2025, our investigators and members began noticing an emerging pattern of criminals leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to commit insurance crime. As organized insurance crime evolves, the mechanics of fraud are no longer constrained by human capacity or the number of hours in a day. What was once small, local crime rings have expanded into coordinated and sophisticated criminal operations, enabled by technology.

Earlier this month Équité Association shared our annual Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles list for 2024, which revealed that auto theft losses exceeded $1 billion in annual claims. This is a clear indication that organized criminal networks are not slowing down but are simply shifting their tactics. At Équité, our investigators are seeing a shift towards stolen vehicles being re-VINed for sale or disassembled in illegal chop shops and sold for parts. As the cost to buy and maintain vehicles rises, we expect to see this trend grow.

Équité had the honour of being the Canadian host of the Global Insurance Fraud Summit (GIFS), which brought together global anti-fraud leaders including CEOs from the largest P&C insurers around the world. Insurance crime is not confined by borders; it’s a global challenge. The 2025 Toronto GIFS gave international leaders, including Équité members, a forum to share learnings, create connections and foster conversations that will echo far beyond the Summit itself.

2024 was a momentous year, and on behalf of our members, we played a pivotal role in advocating for innovative solutions in the fight against auto theft. We doubled the members on ÉQ Insights while also growing the platform’s analytical capabilities; we delivered over $153 million in direct member value; and provided expert data, testimony and recommendations to support the commitment of over $200 million in federal funding to combat auto theft. 2024’s successes underscore the effectiveness of our initial three-year strategy and highlights the importance of industry collaboration, led by Équité, to reduce and prevent insurance crime in Canada.

Trend forecasting in this current climate is challenging due to global and national trade policy shifts that are occurring almost daily. However, there are a number of indicators that Équité Association is watching closely, including economic decline due to increased unemployment and cost of living, international implications of tariffs and trade policies, as well as catastrophic climate events. During periods of recession, we see key indicators that are associated with increasing crime, including insurance crime. From a property and casualty (P&C) insurance lens, Équité is keeping an eye on emerging trends, particularity in both auto and property crimes. As the cost of living and unemployment rise, we can expect to see more insurance crime.

This Fraud Prevention Month (FPM), Équité Association collaborated with our members, as well as industry stakeholders, to use our unified voice to raise awareness about insurance crime and fraud prevention. Our largest fraud awareness campaign to date, this year’s FPM saw our continued growth in industry leadership and collaboration.

From SUVs to pickup trucks, the Équité Québec Investigative Services team, together with the Montreal Police Services Department and Canada Border Services, opened containers and lined up stolen vehicle after stolen vehicle. Our team inspected each vehicle for theft and, once determined to be a stolen vehicle, each was set aside to be returned later to the lawful owner(s).

On November 15, 2021, our President & CEO, Terri O’Brien, presented an overview of Équité Association to an international audience. More than 45 speakers and 30 countries came together to share updates on challenges, trends, best practices and regulatory insights specifically related to insurance fraud. The conference targeted industry organizations that support insurers, law enforcement, regulatory bodies, data and analytics providers for industry, and other international organizations such as coalitions against insurance fraud.

As Canada’s national authority on insurance crime, Équité spokespeople participated in many Fraud Prevention Month events to raise awareness and provide insight on insurance fraud prevention for our members and industry partners. Notably, Bryan Gast, VP, Investigative Services represented our member insurers at the 2024 Auto Theft Summit hosted by Peel Regional Police and partnering police services and stakeholders. Canadian Underwriter featured an interview with Bryan on their podcast about Équité’s participation in the National Summit on Combating Auto Theft in Ottawa on February 8, and what the future could hold regarding auto theft prevention.