Crime and justice

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:

Custodial remand occurs when a person is ordered by the court to be held in custody while awaiting a further court appearance. While rates of crime and sentenced custody have been generally decreasing, the use of custodial remand has been increasing steadily, progressively comprising a larger share of the incarcerated population.

This special topic Juristat provides an overview of incarceration trends, focussing on changes in the use of custodial remand. A variety of factors and data sources are also examined in order to provide insights into why the use of custodial remand may be increasing. Factors examined include the changes in the violent crime rate, the use of time served sentences, increasing duration of remand, implementation of conditional sentences (and conditional sentence breaches), and changes to the Criminal Code.

Description:

This issue of Juristat presents statistical information on the extent and nature of sexual offences in Canada. Rates of sexual offences are examined at the national and provincial/territorial levels and for major metropolitan areas. Data used in the report include police statistics from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and the Homicide Survey and court data from the Adult Criminal Court Survey and the Youth Court Survey. This Juristat also presents analysis from the 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization and takes into account historical and recent amendments to the Criminal Code concerning sexual offences. Other topics include child pornography, trafficking of persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation, child prostitution, dating violence and homicides involving sexual violence.

Description:

This report is an examination of 2002 police-reported crime in Canada. Data are presented within the context of both short and long-term trends. The analysis focuses on trends in violent crime, property crime, impaired driving offences, drug offences and youth crime. Crime rates are examined at the national, provincial/territorial and census metropolitan area levels. The trend in Canada’s crime rate is put into perspective by comparing it with the United States and England and Wales. Detailed information on incidents and accused persons is also presented where appropriate.

Description:

This report provides the most recent information from the 2001/02 Transition Home Survey. It surveys facilities providing residential services for abused women conducted every two years. Questionnaires are mailed to every known facility identified as providing residential services (shelter) to abused women in each province and territory. Information is collected on the characteristics of the facilities and the services provided during the previous 12 months. The survey also provides a one-day snapshot of the characteristics of women and children residing in shelters on a specific day. For the 2001/02 survey, the snapshot day was April 15, 2002. In 2001/02, some 92% of shelters responded to the survey. Where possible, comparisons are made with the 1997/98 and 1999/00 Transition Home surveys.

Description:

This chapter focusses on the nature and extent of spousal violence and on the police response to incidents reported to them.

Description:

This chapter focusses on violence and homicides committed against older adults by family members as reported to police forces across Canada in 2001. In addition, trends over time are examined.

Description:

This chapter focusses on physical and sexual assaults and homicides committed against children and youth (under the age of 18) and reported to police forces across the country. In addition, system responses to the problem of child maltreatment are examined.

Description:

This product profiles in detail the characteristics of the facilities which serve abused women and their children, as well as the characteristics of the clients served by shelters on snapshot day.

Description:

This chapter highlights initiatives in place in four jurisdictions (Ontario, Winnipeg, Calgary and the Yukon) to develop specialized domestic violence court programs. It also outlines activities by the Correctional Service of Canada that identify offenders at risk of family violence and provide treatment programs for them.

Description: Adult correctional services, custodial admissions to provincial and territorial programs by sex, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, custodial admissions to provincial and territorial programs by Indigenous identity, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, custodial admissions to provincial and territorial programs by age group, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, sentenced custody admissions to provincial and territorial programs by sex and sentence length ordered, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, community admissions to provincial and territorial programs by sex, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, community admissions to provincial and territorial programs by Indigenous identity, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, community admissions to provincial and territorial programs by age group, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, custodial and community admissions to federal programs, federal jurisdiction, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, probation admissions to provincial and territorial programs by aggregate probation length ordered, five years of data.

Description: Adult correctional services, custodial releases from provincial and territorial programs by sex and aggregate time served, five years of data.

Description:

In Canada, there are a variety of data sources that can be used to examine the nature and extent of family violence. These fall into two general categories: victimization survey data based on victims' accounts of their experiences of family violence reported to survey interviewers, and those based on incidents reported to the police, hospitals, coroners, chlid welfare or other social agencies.

Description:

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics has been tracking trends in crimes reported to the police since 1962 through the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Description:

Since the 1980s, abuse of older Canadians has gained the attention of service providers, researchers, lobbyists, as well as policy makers. Abus can include physical, psychological or financial mistreatment of adults over the age of 65 years. A lack of information has made it difficult to quantify and truly understand the nature of the problem.

Description:

Physical and sexual assaults are among the most pervasive causes of harm and death to children and youth, yet the most difficult to document. Assaults by family members account for a substantial portion of all assaults against children and youth.

Description:

From 1978 to 1997 there were 12,871 victims of homicide in Canada. Family members were responsible for nearly one-third (31%) of these, another 39% were committed by acquaintances, and 12% by strangers. Throughout the period, women and girls were most likely to be killed by a family member (50%), whereas, men and boys were most likely to be killed by acquaintances (46%).

Description:

Changes in legislation, policies and programs on the part of both federal and provincial/territorial governments have occurred as part of a response to the problem of family violence. This section highlights a few of the responses by provincial courts, the federal correctional system, the network of transition homes and shelters across the country, as well as recent changes in provincial/territorial legislation.

Description:

This article looks at the factors that increase the chances of youth becoming involved in crime.

Description:

The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) Survey is a micro-data survey, conducted annually since 1992. The YCCS survey collects data from jurisdictional operational systems via electronic interfaces. Data are forwarded to the Centre, processed, and returned to jurisdictions as aggregate data tables for verification and sign-off. The survey collects a wide array of information on young offender admissions to custody and community services (e.g., custody type, crime committed, sentence length, age, gender, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal). The YCCS annual report is the primary vehicle for disseminating young offender information on prison populations and the use of community sanctions. To date, there have been four releases (Initiative only) of the YCCS annual report. Jurisdictional coverage varied from report to report since YCCS interfaces were phased-in over several years.

Interface projects have been completed, and data are being collected from Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon. In addition, the interface project for Nova Scotia is nearing completion. Together, these jurisdictions represent 47% of the national coverage of youth corrections. While the development of an electronic interface is presently not feasible in some jurisdictions, Ontario and Quebec are able to provide some of the aggregate data required to populate the tables contained in the annual report. With the addition of Ontario and Quebec in 1998-99, only data from Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories would be missing from the annual report.

Further, in preparation for the proposed release of YCCS data, and as part of Statistics Canada's ongoing survey review process, the YCCS survey is currently undergoing a detailed methodological review, with particular attention to data quality issues and output.

The inclusion of aggregate data from Ontario and Quebec will increase the coverage of the YCCS significantly. Also, the methodological review of the YCCS will assess the reliability of the data elements covered in the annual report. Since the survey has been in operation since 1992 and since the YCCS is the primary source of young offender information on prison populations and the use of community sanctions.

Description:

This report studies the feasibility of collecting quantitative information on organized criminal activity in Canada, including size and composition of organized crime groups, links between various criminal organizations, and types of illegal activities.

Description:

The report, which represents the first phase of a special study commissioned by the National Justice Statistics Initiative, is intended as a reference document on administrative and operational policies with respect to alternative measures for both youth and adults in Canada. The study focussed on the collection of national descriptive information on the organization and delivery of youth and adult alternative measures established pursuant to the Young Offenders Act (Canada) (1984) and the Sentencing Reform Act (1996).

Topics covered include the philosophy of the alternative measures, responsibility for program delivery, referral agent, the role of the police, the Crown, and the victim, the right to legal counsel. Eligibility criteria, a flowchart outlining the alternative measures process, a description of the alternative measures agreement, the range of alternative measures, the supervision of and completion of the agreement, and information regarding record keeping requirements. Where available, appendices have been attached that provide samples of forms currently in use in the jurisdiction as well as any currently available alternative measures data. It is important to note that data contained in the jurisdictional appendices are provided as a sample only. No analysis has been performed on the data nor have any inter-jurisdictional comparisons been made as there has been no attempt to ensure standard definition or time frames for the data.

Description: The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) is an area-based index which uses Census of Population microdata to measure four key dimensions of deprivation at the dissemination area (DA)-level: residential instability, economic dependency, situational vulnerability and ethno-cultural composition.

The CIMD allows for an understanding of inequalities in various measures of health and social well-being. While it is a geographically-based index of deprivation and marginalization, it can also be used as a proxy for an individual. The CIMD has the potential to be widely used by researchers on a variety of topics related to socio-economic research. Other uses for the index may include: policy planning and evaluation, or resource allocation.

Description:

The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) is an area-based index which uses Census of Population microdata to measure four key dimensions of deprivation at the dissemination area (DA)-level: residential instability, economic dependency, situational vulnerability and ethno-cultural composition. The CIMD allows for an understanding of inequalities in various measures of health and social well-being. While it is a geographically-based index of deprivation and marginalization, it can also be used as a proxy for an individual. The CIMD has the potential to be widely used by researchers on a variety of topics related to socio-economic research. Other uses for the index may include: policy planning and evaluation, or resource allocation.

Description:

The User Guide for the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) outlines uses for the index, as well as it provides a brief description of the methodology behind the development of the index. This User Guide also provides instructions on how to use the index, and lists considerations when using the CIMD data.

Description:

This objective of this report is to present the status of national data on Aboriginal people who come into contact with the criminal justice system as offenders and victims. The report examines the current and potential collection of an individual's Aboriginal identity through various justice-related surveys at Statistics Canada, the challenges within these surveys to collect these data and provides some insight into the quality of these data. The data and sources are examined within the context of information needs for the justice and social policy sectors, and in relation to the preferred method of measuring Aboriginal Identity at Statistics Canada. Data sources examined include the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the Homicide Survey, the Integrated Criminal Courts Survey, the Adult Corrections Survey, the Youth Custody and Community Services Survey, the Youth Alternative Measures Survey, the Transition Home Survey, the Victim Services Survey and the General Social Survey on Victimization. Finally, the report briefly describes efforts by other countries to improve justice-related information on their indigenous populations.

Description:

This report presents a description of the organization and operation of provincial and territorial maintenance enforcement programs. It describes the relevant provincial legislation, highlights latest developments, provides a general description of each program, describes how each manages cases, intake/withdrawal procedures, tracing, monitoring, payment processing and enforcement practices. As such, the reader will be able to identify the variations and similarities between the various programs. All of the maintenance enforcement programs rely upon several federal acts to collect, trace and enforce support payments. Therefore, a review of the relevant federal legislation is presented first, followed by a description of each provincial and territorial maintenance enforcement program.

Description:

This publication describes the structure and administration of provincial/territorial legal aid services in Canada. It also includes information on legislation, organization, coverage, eligibility, duty counsel and tariffs.

Description:

This publication includes a list of federal and provincial courts across the country. The purpose of this directory is to identify all courts (permanent and most frequently visited circuit points) in Canada by type, level, and location.

Description: The purpose of this survey is to collect education related financial data on all reform and correctional institutions in Canada. These data are used to supplement data collected from the Provincial Public Accounts on provincial expenditures on education.

Description: The purpose of the Police Administration Survey (PAS) is to collect statistics on public policing personnel and expenditures from municipal, provincial and federal police services in Canada. The information collected is used by federal and provincial policy makers, individual police services as well as officials responsible for police budgets. The data are also used by the media for the purpose of providing information to the general public.

Description: The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey was designed to measure the incidence of crime in Canadian society and its characteristics. The information is used by federal and provincial policy makers as well as public and private researchers.