Table 11
Victims of homicide, by victim age group and sex, and incident characteristic, Canada, 2007 to 2017

Table 11
Victims of homicide, by victim age group and sex, and incident characteristic, Canada, 2007 to 2017
Table summary
This table displays the results of Victims of homicide. The information is grouped by Incident characteristic (appearing as row headers), Victim age group and sex, 24 and younger, 25 and older, 11 and younger, 12 to 17, 18 to 24, Total, Female and Male, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Incident characteristic Victim age group and sex
24 and younger 25 and older
11 and younger 12 to 17 18 to 24 TotalTable 11 Note 1
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
percent
Cause of death
Stabbing 13 10 25 41 34 36 26 34 34 34
Beating 28 37 20 11 20 11 22 14 20 23
Strangulation, suffocation or drowning 28 18 23 2 19 1 22 3 17 3
Shooting 7 6 19 40 21 48 17 42 22 34
Shaken Baby Syndrome 12 10 Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 4 1 Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable
Fire 3 6 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 2
Poisoning or lethal injection 3 5 5 3 1 0.3 3 1 1 1
OtherTable 11 Note 2 6 9 7 2 4 2 5 3 2 2
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Type of motiveTable 11 Note 3
Frustration, anger or despair 64 70 27 14 18 6 33 15 29 11
Argument or quarrel 2 5 19 32 38 38 24 33 29 38
Jealousy 6 4 8 5 14 4 11 4 12 4
Sexual violenceTable 11 Note 4 3 0 21 0 8 0.2 9 0.2 5 0.3
Settling of accountsTable 11 Note 5 0 1 1 20 8 28 4 24 3 19
Revenge 3 5 4 7 1 9 2 8 3 6
Financial gain 0 0 0 5 2 8 1 6 5 10
ConcealmentTable 11 Note 6 5 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.2 0.04
OtherTable 11 Note 7 2 5 9 1 3 2 4 2 4 3
No apparent motiveTable 11 Note 8 16 7 12 16 8 6 11 7 9 8
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
... not applicable
Note 1

Includes victims aged 24 and younger.

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Note 2

Includes exposure, hypothermia and causes of death not otherwise specified.

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Note 3

Reflects the primary motive. If there is more than one motive associated with the homicide, the one determined to be the most important is recorded.

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Note 4

Includes, for example, incidents where the victim was sexually assaulted during the course of the homicide, and incidents where the accused killed the victim for refusing to engage in sexual activity. It may also include incidents where the homicide victim was a sex worker.

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Note 5

This type of motive is commonly seen in relation to drug- and gang-related homicides. Includes homicides where a bystander was killed during an altercation related to settling of accounts.

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Note 6

This type of motive is commonly seen in relation to infanticides. Includes homicides where a victim is killed to prevent the exposure of a crime or other embarrassing activity.

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Note 7

Includes personal protection, hate crime, fear of apprehension, terrorism, mercy killing and types of motive not otherwise classified.

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Note 8

Includes mental illness and dementia.

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Note: Excludes victims where the age or the sex was unknown. Percentages have been calculated excluding unknown. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Homicide Survey.
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