The Canadian government on Tuesday unveiled a legislation aimed at cracking down on auto theft.

The new legislation will create a separate crime of theft of a motor vehicle that would carry a mandatory six-month sentence after a third offense, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said at a press conference in Montreal, where there are more stolen vehicles and unrecovered stolen vehicles than anywhere in Canada.

The legislation would also create an offense of "altering, destroying or removing a vehicle identification number," he said.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, auto theft costs more than 1 billion Canadian dollars (800 million U. S. dollars) a year.