Telecom Industry Demands Harsher Criminal Penalties to Rein in Copper Thefts

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The unprecedented rise in copper prices has resulted in proportional surge in copper theft incidents in Canada, says scrap yards in the country. The figures released by Statistics Canada substantiate the above.

The police-reported theft of metals including copper wires have been on a steady rise. The total number of theft incidents, which totalled 2,607 in 2022, has risen to 4,407 in 2022. It rose further to total 5,240 in 2022. The thefts have surged proportionately with growing demand for metals.

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According to Bart Melek, analyst at TD Securities, Canada has not been putting up enough investments over the past decade in ensuring adequate supplies of metals to balance the rising demand. The Canadian telecommunications industry noted that the theft incidents end up in disruption of essential services including fire, police, ambulance and other emergency services.

Certain Canadian provinces such as Alberta requires people to produce government identification to deal with scrap metal transactions. The telecom industry urged the federal government to expand such strict regulations across the country. Also, higher criminal penalties should be imposed on culprits who cause damage to infrastructure.

Meantime, it is pointed out that the criminal code already has various options to punish corporate thieves.