Table 5 
Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2023 and 2024 

In 2019, the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey added a new violation code to collect information on "sexual offences which occurred prior to January 4, 1983." While most violations are not typically reported years after their occurrence, there are a variety of reasons why sexual violations may be reported by a victim long after the incident took place. On January 4, 1983, Canadian legislation surrounding sexual offences changed considerably. To reflect these changes, the survey added the new violation code rather than collecting historical offences under an existing violation code that did not reflect the state of Canadian legislation at the time of the offence. Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown.

Changes to the Criminal Code, including the introduction of new offences related to trafficking in persons were made in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2014. Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown. Additionally, data specific to human trafficking violations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are not available before 2011. Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 should be interpreted with caution since there could be delays in reporting new violations. Trafficking in persons incidents reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey may be undercounted because of differences in police reporting practices for this violation.

Non-consensual distribution of intimate images is an offence created in 2015 by the former Bill C-13 "Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act." Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown.

In December 2014, new legislation came into effect governing prostitution-related activities. The new legislation targets "the exploitation that is inherent in prostitution and the risks of violence posed to those who engage in it" (Criminal Code Chapter 25, preamble). New violations classified as "offences in relation to sexual services" under "violent crime" include the purchasing of sexual services or communicating for that purpose, receiving a material benefit deriving from the purchase of sexual services, procuring of persons for the purpose of prostitution, and advertising sexual services offered for sale. In addition, a number of other offences related to prostitution continue to be considered non-violent offences and are classified under "other Criminal Code violations". These include communicating to provide sexual services for consideration and stopping or impeding traffic for the purpose of offering, providing or obtaining sexual services for consideration. Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown.

Includes trafficking and the intent to traffic stolen goods.

For the Montréal Police Service, the number of incidents of fraud and identity fraud is undercounted for the year 2024 because of a data transmission issue. This impacted provincial and national rates of police-reported fraud. It is anticipated that corrections will be applied to the revised 2024 data during the scheduled release in 2026. As a result, the information on all fraud types (fraud, identity fraud and identity theft) presented in this table excludes the Montréal Police Service, and may not match information published elsewhere, for example, in online data tables.

Because of the complexity of cyber incidents, which represent a significant number of incidents of child pornography, these data likely reflect the number of active or closed investigations for the year rather than the total number of incidents reported to police. Data are based on police-reported incidents that are recorded in police services' records management systems. Particularly large changes in total child pornography incidents may be attributed in part to the number of cases—current and historical—forwarded to local police services by specialized provincial Internet child exploitation policing units and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre, which serves as the national law enforcement arm of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet.

Includes seven terrorism violations which were introduced mid-year in 2013 as a result of the enactment of former Bill S-7 "An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act and the Security of Information Act." An additional terrorism violation code was introduced in late 2015 as a result of the enactment of former Bill C-51 "Anti-terrorism Act." Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown. Because of the length of time for investigations to confirm whether the incident is founded, annual counts of terrorism offences are subject to revisions downwards when revised data are released one year after the initial release; therefore, changes between the current year of data and the previous year should be interpreted with caution.

Reflects new impaired driving offences as per former Bill C-46 "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (offences relating to conveyances) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts," which came into effect part way through 2018. Therefore, the percentage change from 2014 to 2024 is not shown.

The longer-term decline and the recent increase in drug offences between 2023 and 2024 may be due in part to changes in policing practices and enforcement in response to: 1) the August 2020 guidelines issued by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada directing prosecutors to focus on prosecutions for the most serious offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and to otherwise pursue suitable alternative measures and diversion from the criminal justice system for simple possession cases; and 2) the introduction of Health Canada's section 56(1) exemption from the CDSA for the province of British Columbia for personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs, that came into effect on January 31, 2023. On May 7, 2024, the exemption in British Columbia was amended to apply to adults only in specific locations: where they are in a designated health care clinic; where they are unhoused and sheltering in accordance with all applicable laws; or where they are in a private residence. This amendment again provided police authority to arrest, warn/charge, and seize illegal substances outside the scope and criteria of the amended exemption, including in public spaces. This has resulted in more police-reported drug possession offences for the majority of 2024, relative to before the amendment. Additionally, changes in the rate of offences related to importation or exportation of Cannabis and other illicit drugs and controlled substances may be due in part to operational conditions and reporting of seizure cases, involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Federal Policing No Case Seizure team, Canada Border Services Agency and the Canada Post Mail Centre. Cases generated as a result of this exchange may encounter delays in processing such that the year in which occurrences are reported by police may not always correspond to the year in which they occurred. Therefore, year-over-year changes in drug offences should be considered with caution.