Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2024

Released: 2025-07-22

Overview

The volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), decreased 4% in 2024, following three consecutive years of increases. This was the second decrease in a decade, with the other decline coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The 2024 CSI was just over one-third lower (-34%) than its peak in 1998, the first year CSI data were available.

Non-violent crime had a significant impact on the decline in the overall CSI in 2024. The Non-violent CSI—which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences—declined 6% in 2024, following a 9% increase from 2021 to 2023.

The five violations that contributed the most to the decline in the overall CSI in 2024 were non-violent in nature, accounting for three-quarters (75%) of the overall decrease. In order of impact on the CSI, police-reported rates of breaking and entering (-11% of the rate per 100,000 population), child pornography (-15%), motor vehicle theft (-17%), theft of $5,000 or under (-9%) and mischief (-6%) were all down from 2023.

The Violent CSI decreased 1% in 2024, having a comparatively smaller impact on the overall CSI. Prior to this, the Violent CSI had risen for three consecutive years, increasing 15% over that period.

Compared with 2023, the Violent CSI recorded lower rates for many violations in 2024, such as level 1 sexual assault (-3%), extortion (-10%), robbery (-2%), attempted murder (-12%) and level 3 or aggravated assault (-8%). Combined, these violations accounted for 80% of the decrease in the Violent CSI.

Chart 1 
Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 1998 to 2024

The CSI is one of several measures of crime in Canada. It captures both the volume and the severity of crime, whereas the conventional crime rate measures only the volume of crime. In 2024, the police-reported crime rate (excluding traffic offences) decreased 4% from a year earlier to 5,672 incidents per 100,000 population.

Chart 2 
Police-reported crime rates, Canada, 1962 to 2024

Chart 3 
Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by province and territory, 2019 to 2024

Key trends in police-reported crime

In 2024, the CSI decreased for the first time following three consecutive years of increases, driven largely by a decline in non-violent crime. As was the case in 2023, theft-related violations continued to have a notable impact on the CSI in 2024.

Rates of breaking and entering and motor vehicle theft decline, while rate of shoplifting rises

The rate of breaking and entering—the most severe type of property crime based on its weight in the CSI—declined 11% from the previous year to 293 incidents per 100,000 population in 2024. Overall, there were 121,033 incidents of breaking and entering in 2024, which, despite the decline, accounted for 13% of the overall CSI, the most of any violation.

The decrease in 2024 was noted in every province and in Yukon, while the Northwest Territories (+17%) and Nunavut (+1%) noted an increase.

Overall, the rate of breaking and entering in 2024 was almost one-third (-32%) lower than a decade ago and 75% lower than its peak in 1998, the first year with comparable data.

Motor vehicle theft down, following three consecutive years of increases

In 2024, the rate of motor vehicle theft declined by 17% from 2023, to 239 incidents per 100,000 population. This reversed a three-year rise of 40% from the historic low recorded in 2020. In 2024, motor vehicle theft was identified as a key area of concern by the Government of Canada, which hosted the National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft and released the National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft. Despite the more recent upward trend, the rate in 2024 was 43% of its peak in 2003.

In 2024, most of the decrease from 2023 was attributable to declines in Ontario (-18%), Quebec (-27%) and, to a lesser extent, Alberta (-9%) and British Columbia (-12%). As in previous years, the three Prairie provinces of Manitoba (392 incidents per 100,000 population; -8%), Saskatchewan (386 incidents; -17%) and Alberta (376 incidents; -9%) saw the highest rates among the provinces, despite also recording decreases in 2024.

Shoplifting up for fourth year in a row

A rise in shoplifting of $5,000 or under had the largest offsetting contribution to the change in the CSI in 2024. While shoplifting may be considered a relatively minor offence, it may result in considerable financial loss for businesses. Additionally, online reporting of shoplifting may also contribute to an increase in police-reported incidents.

Police reported 182,361 incidents of shoplifting of $5,000 or under (442 incidents per 100,000 population) in 2024, up 14% from 2023. The rate of shoplifting has increased for four years in a row and was up 66% during the period from 2014 to 2024.

In contrast, other theft of $5,000 or under declined 9% in 2024. The rate of other theft of $5,000 or under was about twice that of shoplifting, with 848 incidents per 100,000 population. The rate of other theft of $5,000 or under has declined 59% from a peak in 1998.

Chart 4 
Selected police-reported property crimes and robbery, Canada, 1998 to 2024

In 2024, police-reported violations with relatively large cyber components—including child pornography, fraud and extortion—continued to have an impact on the CSI trend. The total rate of police-reported cybercrimes declined 9% from 2023 to 2024. However, with advances in technology and widespread access to the Internet, the incidence of cybercrimes had generally been increasing over time. For example, despite the annual decrease, the rate of police-reported cybercrime in 2024 (225 incidents per 100,000 population) was over twice the rate in 2018 (92 incidents), the earliest year with comparable data. Cyber criminals may leverage new technologies, but public awareness efforts, easier online reporting, and updated investigative methods can help police and communities recognize, report and combat cybercrime more effectively.

Police-reported rate of child pornography down, following large increase the previous year, and both annual changes are due, in part, to current and historical case processing through specialized units and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre

The second largest contributor to the decrease in the overall CSI in 2024 was a decline in the rate of police-reported child pornography (also referred to as child sexual abuse and exploitation material, an amendment in terminology which will come into force in the Criminal Code of Canada in October 2025). The rate decreased 15% to 46 incidents per 100,000 population in 2024, or 18,806 total incidents. Making or distributing child pornography accounted for over two-thirds (68%) of child pornography incidents, while the remaining 32% of such incidents were possessing or accessing child pornography.

Despite the drop, there had been a general upward trend since 2008, including a 54% increase in 2023 which was partially the result of more cases—current and historical—brought forward to local police services by specialized provincial Internet child exploitation police units and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC). In 2024, fewer such cases were brought forward, though the rate remained above 2022 levels (up 30% in 2024 from 2022). Overall, the rate of police-reported child pornography in 2024 was over 12 times higher than in 2008. For information on the partnerships between local police services and the NCECC and specialized provincial Internet child exploitation policing units, see the Note to readers.

The large majority of child pornography incidents include a cyber component, and these incidents tend to drive the direction of change overall. From 2018 to 2024, 69% of child pornography incidents were recorded by police as cybercrimes. Changes in cybercrime incidents differ considerably from non-cybercrime incidents. For example, in 2023, the rate of cyber-related child pornography increased 79%, while non-cyber-related incidents were stable. In 2024, the rate of cyber-related incidents declined 27%, while the rate of non-cyber-related incidents rose 25%.

For a recent detailed discussion of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, see Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022.

Rate of extortion down following four consecutive years of increases, while fraud was stable

Extortion is a violent crime that involves obtaining property through coercion and is often associated with fraud. The police-reported rate of extortion decreased 10% to 32 incidents per 100,000 population in 2024, following four consecutive years of increases. Despite the decline, the rate was over four times higher in 2024 than a decade ago in 2014, rising from 8 to 32 incidents per 100,000 population over this period.

The decline in the rate of extortion was mostly due to an 18% decline in the rate of incidents with a cyber component, while the rate of non-cyber-related incidents of extortion declined 2% from 2023 to 2024. Overall, just under half (47%) of police-reported extortion incidents were identified as cyber-related in 2024. Additionally, extortion accounted for 7% of all cybercrimes, compared to less than 1% of all crime (excluding traffic offences).

In 2024, the rate of fraud was stable at 436 incidents per 100,000 population. The rate of identity theft (14 incidents) was also stable, while the rate of identity fraud increased 2% to 50 incidents per 100,000 population. The combined rate of fraud was 92% higher than a decade earlier in 2014 (500 incidents per 100,000 population in 2024 versus 261 in 2014). The information on fraud excludes the Montréal Police Service; see the Note to readers for more information.

In 2024, about one-quarter (26%) of incidents of all fraud types were reported as cybercrimes. Combined, these offences accounted for over half (55%) of cybercrimes in 2024.

Despite the volume of fraud and extortion, many of these crimes go unreported to police. According to the 2019 General Social Survey on Canadians' Safety (Victimization), just over 1 in 10 (11%) victims of fraud reported the fraud to the police.

Chart 5 
Fraud and extortion, police-reported rates, Canada, 2010 to 2024

National homicide rate declines for second consecutive year, but more women victims of homicide

Police reported 788 homicides in 2024, 8 fewer than a year earlier. The homicide rate declined 4%, from 1.99 homicides per 100,000 population in 2023 to 1.91 in 2024.

There were 28 more women homicide victims in 2024 than in 2023, and 34 fewer men. There was also a large increase in the proportion of women who were killed by a spouse or intimate partner, increasing from 32% of women victims in 2023 to 42% of women victims in 2024. More specifically, the proportion of women who were killed by their spouse or intimate partner (42%) was approximately seven times higher than the proportion of men (6%). For two recent detailed reports on gender-related homicide, see Gender-related homicide of women and girls in Canada and Court outcomes in homicides of Indigenous women and girls, 2009 to 2021.

Rate of homicide victims higher among Indigenous people than non-Indigenous people

Despite the overall decline in homicides, police reported 225 Indigenous homicide victims in 2024, 29 more than in 2023. In 2024, the homicide rate for Indigenous people (10.84 homicides per 100,000 Indigenous population) was approximately eight times higher than the rate among the non-Indigenous population (1.35 homicides per 100,000 non-Indigenous population). Since 2014—the first year with complete Indigenous identity data for victims of homicide—Indigenous people have been overrepresented as victims of homicide. Indeed, most of the increase in women victims of homicide was among Indigenous people, with 21 more Indigenous women victims reported in 2024 than in the previous year.

Nearly one-third of homicide victims identified by police as racialized

There were 226 victims of homicide identified by police as racialized (those identified as belonging to a visible minority group, as defined by the Employment Equity Act), accounting for 29% of homicide victims in 2024. This was similar to 2023.

Detailed information on the characteristics of homicides such as rates across geographies, method of death and gang-relation, and the characteristics of victims and accused persons, such as Indigenous or racialized identity information, age, gender and relationship to the accused can be found in online data tables. An analytical report summarizing some of this more detailed information will be released in the fall.

See the Note to readers below for more information on homicide victim identification.

Chart 6 
Attempted murder and homicide, police-reported rates, Canada, 1986 to 2024

Products

Data for 2024 will be made available shortly in the interactive data visualization dashboards "Police-reported Information Hub: Selected Crime Indicators," "Police-reported Information Hub: Criminal Violations," "Police-reported Information Hub: Geographic Crime Comparisons," "Police-reported Information Hub: Homicide in Canada," and "Police-reported Information Hub: Hate crime in Canada," available through the "Police-reported Information Hub" as part of the publication Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (Catalogue number71-607-X).

The infographic "Police-reported crime in Canada, 2024" (Catalogue number11-627-M) is also released today.

Additional data, such as detailed microdata, are available upon request.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).