Homicide in Canada, 2019

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Release date: October 29, 2020
Homicide in Canada, 2019
Description: Homicide in Canada, 2019

Homicide in Canada, 2019

Nationwide, there were 678 homicides, at a rate of 1.80 per 100,000 population.

486 male victims
144 female victims



Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Number of homicides in 2019 and Change in number of homicides from 2018 (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Number of homicides in 2019 Change in number of homicides from 2018
Canada 678 +20
Newfoundland and Labrador 5 +3
Prince Edward Island 2 +2
Nova Scotia 6 -5
New Brunswick 15 +2
Quebec 77 -6
Ontario 246 -26
Manitoba 72 +17
Saskatchewan 55 +21
Alberta 100 +19
British Columbia 90 0
Yukon 1 -2
Northwest Territories 2 -4
Nunavut 7 -1

Almost 1 in 4 homicides in Canada was gang-related.

The number of gang-related homicides increased in 2019 to its 2nd highest rate ever.

In Canada, 261 homicides were committed with a firearm, or 2 in every 5 homicides. Over half (60%) of these were committed with a handgun.



Table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Method of death, Shooting, Stabbing, Beating and Other, calculated using rate per 100, 000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Method of death
Shooting Stabbing Beating Other
rate per 100, 000 population
1989 0.79 0.62 0.47 0.48
1990 0.70 0.77 0.47 0.40
1991 0.97 0.80 0.51 0.40
1992 0.87 0.74 0.53 0.42
1993 0.68 0.67 0.40 0.42
1994 0.68 0.53 0.37 0.46
1995 0.59 0.62 0.41 0.35
1996 0.72 0.66 0.44 0.28
1997 0.65 0.56 0.38 0.35
1998 0.50 0.62 0.41 0.30
1999 0.55 0.47 0.41 0.32
2000 0.60 0.49 0.42 0.25
2001 0.55 0.55 0.39 0.26
2002 0.48 0.58 0.40 0.32
2003 0.52 0.45 0.39 0.33
2004 0.54 0.64 0.43 0.30
2005 0.69 0.61 0.44 0.26
2006 0.59 0.64 0.37 0.23
2007 0.57 0.57 0.36 0.23
2008 0.60 0.61 0.37 0.23
2009 0.54 0.62 0.35 0.26
2010 0.51 0.49 0.34 0.26
2011 0.46 0.61 0.38 0.28
2012 0.49 0.47 0.33 0.24
2013 0.38 0.56 0.29 0.19
2014 0.44 0.53 0.29 0.18
2015 0.50 0.60 0.38 0.17
2016 0.62 0.48 0.32 0.22
2017 0.73 0.56 0.30 0.19
2018 0.68 0.50 0.32 0.21
2019 0.70 0.57 0.27 0.22

Indigenous peoplesNote 1 represented about 5% of Canada’s total population in 2019 yet accounted for 27% of homicide victims and 38% of accused persons. The rate of homicide for Indigenous peoples was six-and-a-half times higher than for non-Indigenous people.



Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3 Indigenous, Non-Indigenous, Male and Female, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Indigenous Non-Indigenous
Male Female Male Female
rate per 100,000 population
Homicide victimsTable 3 Note 2 11.89 4.01 2.04 0.55
Persons accused of homicideTable 3 Note 2 13.73 2.21 1.55 0.17

One-third of homicide victims were identified as visible minorities, 44% of whom were identified as Black.

Of solved homicides, almost 9 in 10 victims knew their accused.

The proportion of female victims killed by a spouse or intimate partner was 8 times greater than the proportion of male victims.



Homicide victims by accused-victim relationshipHomicide victims Note 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Homicide victims by accused-victim relationship. The information is grouped by Accused-victim relationship (appearing as row headers), Percentage of male victims and Percentage of female victims (appearing as column headers).
Accused-victim relationship Percentage of male victims Percentage of female victims
Spousal or intimate relationshipHomicide victims Note 4 6 47
Family relationship (non-spousal) 15 26
AcquaintanceHomicide victims Note 5 41 12
Criminal relationship 11 1
Stranger 13 7
Other relationship 3 0
Unknown relationship 10 6

Homicide rate for every 100,000 people living in the 5 largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs)



Table 5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 5. The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (appearing as row headers), Rate per 100,000 population – 2018 and Rate per 100,000 population – 2019 (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area Rate per 100,000 population – 2018 Rate per 100,000 population – 2019
Toronto 2.31 2.03
Montréal 1.11 1.05
Vancouver 1.66 1.52
Calgary 1.34 1.57
Edmonton 2.60 2.20
Canada 1.78 1.80

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Homicide Survey.

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