You're most likely to get your bike stolen in these Montreal neighbourhoods
On average, more than 2,200 bikes a year are stolen in Montreal
The nightmare of every Montreal cyclist finally came true for Cole Shields this month: someone stole her beloved bike.
One morning, she locked it against the staircase railing of her Hochelaga-Maisonneuve home across from Lalancette park. By the time she got home in the late afternoon, it was gone.
Her east-end borough isn't the safest for bikes, with an average of slightly over 100 bikes a year getting nicked, but it's far from the worst.
In sheer numbers, over the past four and a half years, more bikes were reported stolen in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough than in any other borough, according to data from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) compiled by CBC News.
In terms of the highest rate of bike theft, the east end of Ville-Marie is considered the worst, with 42 bikes reported stolen for every 1,000 residents.
Those numbers may be even higher, an SPVM spokesperson said in an email, because in Montreal — a city that boasts about its cycling culture — bike larceny goes underreported.
The number of bike-theft cases opened has been fairly consistent between 2019 and 2022, with about 2,200 reports filed annually on average.
Shields is just one of nearly 1,000 people whose bike was snatched in the city this summer. Even Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher had his stolen in June, according to the Journal de Montréal.
After Shields underwent a spinal fusion in 2018, having her bicycle swiped especially stings because the $700 bike had enough suspension to absorb the impact of countless Montreal potholes she'd come up against.
"When they took that from me, they took some of my freedom," she said. "It's a mode of transportation. And with global warming, it's something I can use where I'm not polluting."
How to protect your bike
Although Vélo Québec CEO Jean-François Rheault says it's impossible to make a bike completely theft-proof, there are steps cyclists can take to better protect their environmentally friendly ride.
For one, Rheault recommends they keep a record of the bike's serial number and sign up for Garage 529 — a free app to track local bike theft reports and discourage stealing.
More than 20,200 bicycles in Montreal were registered on Garage 529 by the end of July. The SPVM joined the app's network in 2021.
"The more people use the database, the stronger it will become so we encourage everyone to do that," he said.
Even longtime bike-owners fall prey to thieves.
Rheault says many cyclists are unaware that they haven't locked their bike securely, noting that he often sees bicycles whose front wheel and frame are unlocked.
To put off casual opportunists, he recommends that cyclists invest in high-quality, heat-treated steel locks that cost at least $50, since many low-performing locks are made of zinc — a soft metal — which is less resistant to cable cutters, saws and hammers.
Installing a GPS tracker or an Airtag is also worthwhile for cyclists in case they end up needing to hunt down their bike.
"If someone wants to steal it, I think they can always find a way, but creating multiple defences is one thing that people can do," Rheault said.
Potential public bike storage
Rheault thinks the availability of more indoor bike storage would dissuade people from brazenly stealing in broad daylight.
"The city is aware of the problems of bicycle theft and is working with various partners to counter this problem," said Montreal spokesperson Hugo Bourgoin in a statement.
Montreal's transit authority, the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM), has one bike shelter in its entire network. The shelter, meant for Metro users, is discreetly located behind the Lionel-Groulx station.
For now, there are no plans to build others, a STM spokesperson said.
Bourgoin says Montreal's sustainable mobility agency is evaluating business models that could support building secure spaces for bicycles before it makes any recommendations.
Ideally, a new approach to public bike storage could be deployed in 2024 as part of the implementation of new mobility hubs, he added.
Knowing that many Montrealers are struggling with the cost of living and finding permanent housing, Shields says she bears no ill will toward anyone who feels they need to steal bikes to get by.
"I want to hope it was somebody who really really needed food," she said.
Assuming that the police will tell her they have "bigger fish to fry" than pursuing bike theft cases, she says she is considering filing a report as a last resort.
"Now that the police chief himself got his bike stolen, maybe he'll want to re-prioritize it," she said.
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