There’s a crime wave sweeping through eastern Canada, and it’s not jewellery or bank notes the thieves are after, but the copper wire found in telecom lines.
Such thefts are rising at such an “alarming rate” that Bell Canada made a public statement about the “growing crisis that is endangering public safety and disrupting essential communications infrastructure.”
Copper theft is up 23 per cent from a year ago, with Bell reporting more than 2,270 incidents nationwide since 2022.
This is not a victimless crime, says the telecom. Thieves who target the lines for copper are disrupting phone and internet access. Copper thefts now account for 88 per cent of all physical security incidents on its network, with over 500 cases reported in the first half of 2025.
Major Canadian telecoms like Bell and Telus Corp. have been replacing copper in recent years with fibre, but the transition is not complete. Damage to copper lines can also harm fibre cables because they are often bundled together.
“Copper theft is a serious crime that directly threatens the safety and well-being of Canadians. These thefts are not just about stolen copper; the perpetrators often damage other infrastructure such as fibre cable and the crime can potentially put lives at risk when people can’t call 911 as a result of the damage,” said Bell’s chief technology officer Mark McDonald in the release.
Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec are the hardest hit, with 63 per cent of all copper thefts occurring in Ontario. Hamilton, Cambridge and Windsor are particular problem areas, said Bell.
In May, thieves felled 33 hydro poles by the Hound Chute Generating Station near Cobalt, Ont., stripping them of copper wire police say was worth $100,000.
In New Brunswick there have been 80 incidents so far this year, said Bell, with most of them occurring in the Fredericton–Oromocto corridor.
The issue has come before the Senate Transportation and Communications Committee and Bell wants government to amend the Criminal Code to increase penalties. The telecom said it is also accelerating its transition to all-fibre, which now covers 60 per cent of its network.
The world’s third most consumed metal, copper is used in a wide range of industries from building construction to electronic products. One of its biggest drivers in recent years has been electric vehicles.
With surging demand and dwindling supply, the scrap metal market is sometimes referred to as “the world’s largest copper mine.”
Prices have been rising since the pandemic, with a surge this year sparked by the threat of United States tariffs. The benchmark London price rose to more than three-month high of almost US$10,000 a tonne last week.
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