Crime and justice

Description:

This edition of Juristat provides a profile of motor vehicle theft in Canada. It examines the international trends, methods and prevalence of organized crime in Canadian auto theft, as well as recent auto-theft prevention programs and strategies.

Description:

Cyber-crime is a global problem that in many instances transcends national borders. Historically, compiling meaningful statistics about this activity has been difficult because of the reluctance on the part of victims to report these offences to police. However, because of the financial losses sustained, an increasing number of these crimes are being reported to police. As a result, federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as the police community, are interested in analyzing national trends on cyber-crime and their impact on Canadians.

In response to this need for information, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) conducted a Special Study to examine the issues and data sources related to cyber-crime and to investigate the feasibility of collecting quantitative data from police services in Canada. This report examines definitions of cyber-crime, current legislation in Canada and other countries, existing data sources, summarizes results from consultations with selected police forces, and presents options for collecting cyber-crime data from police agencies.

Description:

This issue of Juristat examines how much is being spent to operate the justice system in Canada. Trends in spending and personnel are discussed for policing, courts, legal aid, criminal prosecutions, and corrections. The report data come from several sources, including the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics' resource, Statistics Canada's Financial Management System, and expenditure and personnel surveys. The data cover the period up to 2000-2001.

Description:

The Adult Correctional Services Survey (ACSS) collects annual aggregate data from all jurisdictions on the delivery of adult correctional services from both the provincial, territorial and federal correctional systems. Key themes include the average daily counts of adults in custodial facilities, including remand, as well as monthly counts of probationers; and new admissions (commencements) to correctional programs of sentenced custody, probation, conditional sentences and other community-based programs. The survey also captures information on conditional releases to the community, including parole and statutory release. In addition, the survey collects information on the financial and human resources involved in the delivery of adult correctional services. While trends are presented for the key units of count, the reference period for this release is 2000-2001.

Description:

In January 1999, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) received a commitment of four years funding from the federal government's Policy Research Initiative (PRI) to conduct a study on hate crime in Canada. The purpose of the overall study is to enhance our understanding of hate crime and to assess the feasibility of collecting police-reported hate crime statistics in Canada. In 2001, the CCJS released a report entitled "Hate crime in Canada: an overview of issues and data sources", catalogue no. 85-551-XIE.

This report helped to address some questions regarding the nature and magnitude of hate crimes in Canada, although certain data gaps were identified. As a result, it was determined that a pilot survey should be conducted with police departments that collect hate crime statistics. In order to determine specific information needs for the pilot survey, consultations were held with a number of academics; members of various non-governmental and community organizations; and federal and provincial departments responsible for the administration of justice, as well as police departments.

The information contained in this report provides a summary of the consultations that were held between September 2001 and March 2002.

Description:

The Juristat publication, "Pilot analysis of recidivism among convicted youth and young adults, 1999/00," summarizes trends from the provincial/territorial courts across Canada that provided data to the Adult Criminal Court Survey (ACCS) and the Youth Court Survey (YCS). This report attempts to gauge the prevalence of recidivism in young adults by examining the conviction histories of young adults convicted in Canadian criminal courts in 1999-2000. It also examines the transition from youth to adult offending, including patterns of re-offending, differences in conviction histories by age of onset and the impact of conviction history on court sentencing.

Description:

This Juristat presents and analyzes information on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, and open) and probation, and key case characteristics such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status, and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody, and open custody by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented and analyzed at the national and provincial/territorial level.

Alternative measures refer to formalized programs across Canada through which persons who would otherwise proceed to court are dealt with via non-judicial sanctions. An analysis on alternative measures includes data pertaining to the participation and agreement by the youth to enter these community-based alternatives. The key case characteristics of this survey are similar to those collected by the Youth Custody and Community Services survey.

The Youth Key Indicators describe average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Data summarized in this Juristat are primarily drawn from three perspectives: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) survey. The scope of the survey is to collect and analyze information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Alternative Measures survey, which collects and analyzes data on the number of agreements achieved and completed. And, 3) The Youth Key Indicator Report that measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation.

Description:

This publication presents data on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, open) and probation, and key case characteristics, such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody and open custody, by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented at the national and provincial/territorial levels.

Data presented in this publication are drawn from two primary sources: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) Survey. The objective of this survey is to collect and analyse information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Youth Key Indicator Report (YKIR). This survey measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation. The YKIR describes average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day at month-end. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Description:

Recognizing that there is the need for better information and statistics on organized crime, and for methodologies to measure its impact on Canadians, the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice have endorsed a plan to begin addressing Canada's data gap in the area of organized crime.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics was contracted by the Solicitor General of Canada to investigate the feasibility of collecting quantitative data on organized crime. This report highlights the lessons learned during consultations with selected police intelligence units and it presents a number of options for data collection.

Description:

This annual report is an examination of homicide in Canada. Detailed information is presented on the characteristics of homicide incidents (murder, manslaughter and infanticide), and, within the context of both short and long-term trends, the victims and accused. Geographical patterns of homicide are examined at the national and provincial/territorial levels, as well as for major metropolitan areas. Other key themes include international comparisons of homicide, gang-related homicides, firearm-related homicides, youth homicide and family (including spousal) homicides. The data are intended to respond to the needs of those who work in the criminal justice system, as well as to inform researchers, policy analysts, academics, the media and the public on the nature and extent of homicide in Canada.

Description:

Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the administration of community-based correctional services in Canada for adults and youth, which include, but are not limited to probation, conditional sentences, and temporary absence programs. Although the Criminal Code of Canada, the Young Offenders Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act set out guidelines, jurisdictions are not obliged to follow them directly. Jurisdictions will differ, sometimes substantially, in their administration.

This publication provides a descriptive overview of sentences and the delivery of community correctional services across all jurisdictions in Canada for both adult and youth. In addition, this publication reports on community corrections data collected from the special study, as well as data from the Adult Correctional Services Survey, the Key Indicator Report, the Youth Custody and Community Services Survey, and the Alternative Measures Survey. It examines admissions and average counts of adults and youth who were under community supervision, showing trends as far back as 1993/94. Furthermore, data on offender characteristics, such as sex and Aboriginal status are also presented.

Description:

In 2004, as part of its General Social Survey program, Statistics Canada conducted a survey on victimization and public perceptions of crime and the justice system. It was the fourth time that the General Social Survey (GSS) had examined victimization - previous surveys were conducted in 1988, 1993, and 1999. The target population was Canadians aged 15 years and older living in the ten provinces.

This report provides an overview of the main findings from cycle 18 of the General Social Survey on Victimization and makes comparisons with previous survey cycles. The analysis focuses on Canadians' outlook on crime and the criminal justice system, as well as their fear of crime. Variations by province are also presented.

Description:

This report presents an overview of Canadians' outlook on crime and the criminal justice system at both the national and Census Metropolitan Area levels. The information was collected in 2004 through Cycle 18 of the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization. This survey, which has been previously carried out in 1999, 1993, and 1988, collects information on Canadians' experience of victimization, and public attitudes towards crime, police, courts, prison and parole. The target population of the GSS is all individuals aged 15 and over living in a private household in one of the ten provinces.

Description:

Crime statistics for 2003 were first released in July 2004. Canadian crime statistics, 2003, released today, presents additional detailed information. Standard crime tables are presented for Canada, the provinces and territories, and all census metropolitan areas. Also included in the publication is a set of 20 tables from the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, based on data collected from 122 police departments in nine provinces that dealt with 61% of the national volume of police-reported crime. These tables examine the characteristics of the victims and the accused (their age and sex, the relationship of the accused to the victim, level of injury and weapon causing injury), as well as the criminal incident itself (location of the incident, target of violation, presence of weapons and type of property stolen).

Description:

The 'conditional sentence' was enacted in September 1996 as a new sentencing option for adult offenders. Under this new sanction, an offender could be ordered a term of imprisonment of less than two years to be served within the community. During the 2001 to 2002 period, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics conducted a special study of conditional sentences in correctional services in order to examine the impact of this new sentence on the administration of sentencing in Canada and to explore its application through an examination of caseloads and case characteristics.

This report uses data from that special study, as well as the Adult Correctional Services survey, to profile conditional sentence caseloads and case characteristics (e.g., length of sentence, most serious offence, conditions ordered), and offender characteristics (e.g., age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal), nationally, provincially and territorially for the period of 1997 to 2001. Data on conditional sentences are also compared with probation and custody trends in order to examine the impact of conditional sentencing on probation and incarceration. Additional information describing jurisdictional administrative policies and procedures governing conditional sentences is also provided. The correctional services data have been supplemented with court data on conditional sentences from three jurisdictions: Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Alberta.

Description:

This publication presents data on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, open) and probation, and key case characteristics, such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody and open custody, by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented at the national and provincial/territorial levels.

Data presented in this publication are drawn from two primary sources: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) Survey. The objective of this survey is to collect and analyse information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Youth Key Indicator Report (YKIR). This survey measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation. The YKIR describes average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day at month-end. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Description:

Bulletins are short documents that provide information or statistics on important justice related topics. The articles cover current issues in justice such as impaired driving, youth and crime, intermittent sentencing, criminal harassment, etc.

Description:

This product provides data on revenues, expenditures, and caseloads of legal aid plans in Canada. Data are presented in table format, and includes aggregate data at the provincial/territorial level on the sources of revenue, expenditures and caseloads associated with the delivery of legal aid in Canada. An analytical discussion of these data is provided in the associated publication entitled Legal aid in Canada: resource and caseload statistics, catalogue no. 85F0015XIE, which provides an overview of the revenues, expenditures and caseloads of legal aid plans in Canada.

Description:

This report presents data from the Courts Personnel and Expenditure Survey including national totals and jurisdictional information on personnel (judiciary and court staff); judiciary by level of court; expenditures by type (i.e. salaries and benefits); and operating expenditures (i.e. law library/publication costs, witness costs). The survey is administered on a biennial basis and this year's report covers data for the 2000/01 fiscal year.

Description:

This report presents highlights from the Criminal Prosecutions Personnel and Expenditures Survey including national totals and jurisdictional information on type of staff; use of contract lawyers; expenditures by type (i.e. salaries and benefits, administrative services, etc.); and the types of services provided, (e.g. specialized services versus general duties). The survey is administered on a biennial basis, be reporting data for the 2000-01 fiscal year.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Key statistics about crime in Canada are presented in this infographic. Findings on changes to the Crime Severity Index (CSI) at the national and provincial, territorial levels are presented. Also included are the categories of crime which were reported in 2023.

Description: This publication presents key highlights and results from the General Social Survey on the topics of caregiving and care receiving; social identity; giving, volunteering and participating; victimization; time use; and family.

Description: This Juristat article explores recent trends in police-reported sexual assault and other selected types of violent crime, following the implementation of changes to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey in 2018. Analysis includes a focus on clearance status and victim, accused person and incident characteristics, comparing results from 2017 to the years that followed the changes.

Description: This publication provides in-depth analysis and detailed statistics on a variety of topics and issues related to justice and public safety. Topics include crime, victimization, homicide, civil, family and criminal courts, and correctional services. Issues related to community safety, and perceptions of safety are also covered. The publication is intended for those with an interest in Canada's justice and public safety systems as well as those who plan, establish, administer and evaluate programs and projects related to justice and public safety.

Description: This Juristat article uses data from the 2022/2023 Survey of Residential Facilities for Victims of Abuse (SRFVA) to present results on residential facilities in Canada that are primarily mandated to serve victims of abuse. Results presented in this article refer to two distinct time periods. The first focuses on a 12-month period within 2022/2023, and provides an overview of facility characteristics, touching on shelter admissions, availability of accommodations, and general services provided. The second focuses on information for a predetermined snapshot date of April 13, 2023, and presents a profile of residents using residential facilities on this date.

Description: Using police-reported data from the 2022 Homicide Survey, this infographic is a visual representation of some of these data. Findings include results based on Indigenous identity. Also included are findings related to the characteristics of victims as well as the prevalence of missing persons and spousal and intimate partner violence.

Description: Using data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and the Integrated Criminal Courts Survey, this infographic is a visual representation of the prevalence of police-reported incidents of online child sexual exploitation in Canada between 2014 and 2022. Findings include the types of incidents reported to police, including both online sexual offences against children and child pornography offences, as well as characteristics of victims and accused persons.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This infographic is a visual representation using some of the data from the 2023 Police Administration Survey. Findings reported on the infographic include results on key indicators such as police strength, number of police officers, number of calls for service and police personnel data.

Description: The purpose of the Adult Correctional Services (ACS) survey is to provide important indicators as to the nature and characteristics in correctional case-flow that are of use to agencies responsible for the delivery of these services, the media and the public. The survey collects annual data on the delivery of adult correctional services from both the provincial/territorial and federal correctional systems.

Description: The survey provides the justice community, academics and the public with information on revenues, expenditures, personnel, and caseload statistics associated with the delivery and administration of legal aid in Canada.

Description: The objective of the Youth Court Survey (YCS) is to develop and maintain a database of statistical information on appearances, charges, and cases in youth courts.

Description: The objective of this survey is to provide information on the human resources and costs associated with the operation of Canadian courts.

Description: The objective of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) is to develop and maintain a national database of statistical information on appearances, charges, and cases in youth courts and adult criminal courts. The survey is intended to be a census of pending and completed federal statute charges heard in provincial-territorial and superior courts in Canada. Appeal courts, federal courts (e.g., Tax Court of Canada) and the Supreme Court of Canada are not covered by the survey.

Description: The Corrections Key Indicator Report for Adults and Youth monitors trends in correctional populations and provides a basis for calculating incarceration rates based on the Canadian population. This survey describes average counts of adults and youth under custody and under community supervision, who are under the responsibility of provincial/territorial correctional services.

Description: This survey collects detailed data on homicide in Canada. The survey has collected police-reported data on the characteristics of all murder incidents, victims and accused persons since 1961 and all homicides (including murder, manslaughter and infanticide) since 1974.

Description: The primary objective of this survey is to provide information on the human resources and costs associated with the delivery of criminal prosecutions services in Canada.

Description: The purpose of the Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) survey is to provide important indicators as to the nature and case characteristics of youth in correctional services and are of use to agencies responsible for the delivery of these services, the media and the public. The survey collects annual data on the delivery of youth correctional services from the provinces and territories.

Description: This survey collects statistical and descriptive information on child and spousal support payments from provincial and territorial maintenance enforcement programs.