Oren wrote:

I read now that stealing copper in Canada is called
"urban mining".

A phrase that was invented in the USA as delinquent and
forclosed homes get stripped of anything of value.

Better check your source again.

Here's one source.

Read this and feel ashamed for your country:

=================
http://jodyewing.com/tag/copper-theft/

All That Remains

This used to be my grandparents’ rural country home. Five generations
once laughed and loved and celebrated countless family milestones here.
After Grandpa died and Grandma moved in with my folks, my mom and
stepdad purchased the house in order to keep it in the family, and were
in the process of fixing it up for a renter when thieves broke in late
on Aug. 28, 2007, stole copper piping, and let the home fill with gas
for the inevitable explosion.

My stepfather, “Dad” Earl Thelander, suffered second- and third-degree
burns over 80% of his body in the explosion. Four days later, he lost
his life over less than $20 worth of stolen copper.

--------------

A thief who stripped copper tubing from a propane tank is blamed for a
gas buildup and house explosion that severely burned an 80-year-old
Onawa man, authorities said Wednesday.

Earl Thelander suffered third-degree burns over nearly half his body in
Tuesday’s blast. Investigators say the gas buildup was linked to the
disappearance of the tubing, which has increasingly been the target of
so-called “urban miners” who hope to cash in on the high price of
certain scrap metals.

The thief who hit Thelander’s rural home “maybe got $15 worth of
copper,” Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt said. “They cut the propane
line going to the furnace of the house in an attempt to steal the
copper.”
===================

If you can find an earlier Canadian reference to "urban mining" - be my
guest.

And you might want to look for any occurrances of catalytic-convertor
theft in Canada while you're at it. Cutting out the catalytic
convertors from cars using battery-operated saws is another example of
urban mining in the USA.