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.