Ontario government asked to step in to stop scrap metal thefts

The City of Brantford is calling on the province to do more when it comes to copper thefts. CTV’s Colton Wiens reports.

The provincial government is being asked to do more when it comes to scrap metal thefts.

Thieves have been targeting the metals, such as copper wire, to sell for cash.

According to the Chamber of Commerce of Brantford-Brant, businesses have been demanding something be done to stop the persistent problem.

“We’ve had businesses tell us that they’re experiencing over $100,000 in damages. Whether it’s damage to equipment or security costs afterwards or multiple thefts, being unable to get insurance afterwards – those create some issues,” David Prang, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Brantford-Brant said. “This is any kind of business. This is you small shopkeepers to HVAC dealers and HVAC installers that are having their own units broken into.”

Prang said he’s even heard of insurance companies that have been targeted.

“Anything in a commercial office space and commercial retail space are having rooftop units stolen or broken into. Anywhere there’s potential for copper or other theft, it tends to happen.”

Detering metal thefts has been something the City of Brantford has worked on for a few years, after seeing nearly one million dollars in property damage and theft over two years. The city passed a bylaw in 2024 that made certain metals, like sewer grates and shopping carts, illegal to bring to a salvage yard. It also required traceable transactions instead of cash.

“Brantford police did notice that there was a slight decrease in the amount of thefts. But then after about eight months, it started back up again,” Dave Wiedrick, director of Bylaw Compliance and Security at the City of Brantford, said. “But we weren’t finding the material here in our scrap metal dealers here in town.”

Officials believe the metal was being brought outside the city limits, where the bylaw doesn’t apply.

Calling for help

Wiedrick said it’s not just metal from HVAC systems that are being taken - plaques from area businesses have also disappeared.

“We were missing historical plaques like the Brant County Museum, Mohawk Chapel went missing. When we started talking with the scrap metal dealers about what we were planning here, someone brought in a plaque from our Lorne Bridge, a brass plaque, and so he just called and said, ‘You might want to come get this. I didn’t pay for it,’” Wiedrick said.

He added the city is doing inspections and has a good relationship with scrap metal dealers.

However, the city said it needs the Ontario Government to step in and create a provincial framework so thieves can’t just skip the municipal boundary. Wiedrick said something like Alberta’s Scrap Metal Dealers Identification Act would help, because some items would be banned from scrap yards and buyers would be required to record their transactions.

“It’s not telling the police every day who’s trading something if you walk in, but if they link it to a theft that’s occurred, then they have a lead that they can start on,” Wiedrick said.

Provincial response

“Changes to the Criminal Code of Canada, which covers matters such as theft, the selling of stolen goods and damage to property, are the purview of the federal government. As such, your questions are best directed to Public Safety Canada,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said in an email to CTV News. “The ministry has confidence in police services to investigate these crimes and take appropriate enforcement action.”

Despite the province’s view, Prang said the chamber also wants a provincial framework, but it needs to be Ontario-made. Prang recently presented the idea to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

“The Ontario Chamber of Commerce will introduce provincial scrap metal regulatory action as part of their advocacy process. So, when the Ontario Chamber works with the province of Ontario, this will be one of several dozen advocacy priorities that the Ontario Chamber will work with the province of Ontario with,” Prang said. “This policy will stay on the books for the Ontario Chamber for three years, and it could happen at any point in time where this type of topic comes in front of a minister or part of the government.”