Thefts at B.C. home construction sites on the rise

Thefts from construction sites are on the rise, according to the president of the Greater Vancouver Homebuilder's Association.

Peter Simpson said everything from kitchen appliances to tools are being stolen in broad daylight.

"If you've got a multi-family construction site, you'll find there are many many trades working there at the same time," he said.

"So the plumbers don't necessarily know the electricians, and the electricians don't necessarily know the carpenters, so if somebody walks by you wearing a hardhat and carrying a chop saw, you just think he's going to go use it somewhere. Well, he's actually stealing it."

Simpson said the industry is losing millions of dollars of equipment across the country, but there's been little action from law enforcement.

He would like to see police fine and publicly shame thieves in order deter these robberies.

"We'd like the police to make examples of these people like they do in the United States," he said.

"You know they fine them, they put them in the paper, you know they make an example, so every time they catch one it should be made public so it would help to dissuade other people from following this track."

Simpson said the goods are being stolen so they can be resold out of the province and even outside the country.