Infographic: Homicide in Canada, 2020

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Release date: November 25, 2021
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Infographic: Homicide in Canada, 2020
Description: Infographic: Homicide in Canada, 2020

Nationwide, there were 743 homicides, at a rate of 1.95 per 100,000 population.

  • 568 male victims
  • 171 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 2020 and Change in number of homicides from 2019 (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Number of homicides in 2020 Change in number of homicides from 2019
Canada 743 56
Newfoundland and Labrador 4 -1
Prince Edward Island 1 -1
Nova Scotia 35 29
New Brunswick 14 -3
Quebec 87 10
Ontario 234 -19
Manitoba 62 -10
Saskatchewan 60 5
Alberta 139 39
British Columbia 98 8
Yukon 0 -1
Northwest Territories 6 4
Nunavut 3 -4

1 in 5 homicides in Canada was gang-related.

The number of gang-related homicides decreased in 2020 to the lowest rate since 2016.

In Canada, 277 homicides were committed with a firearm, or more than 1 in every 3 homicides. Almost half (49%) 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
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 0.49 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 0.24
2020 0.73 0.62 0.34 0.18

Despite representing about 5% of Canada’s total population in 2020, Indigenous peopleNote 1 accounted for 28% of homicide victims and 37% of accused persons. The homicide rate of Indigenous people was seven times higher than the rate of 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 victimsNote 2 16.50 3.76 2.14 0.69
Persons accused of homicideNote 2 18.53 3.46 1.84 0.24

One-quarter of homicide victims were identified as visible minorities, 50% of whom were identified as Black.

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


Table 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 4. The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (appearing as row headers), Rate per 100,000 population – 2019 and Rate per 100,000 population – 2020 (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area Rate per 100,000 population – 2019 Rate per 100,000 population – 2020
Toronto 2.03 1.62
Montréal 1.04 0.97
Vancouver 1.51 1.64
Calgary 1.57 2.53
Edmonton 2.21 3.19
Canada 1.83 1.95

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

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2021

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

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