Table 2
Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded, selected offences, Canada, 2017 and 2018


Table 2
Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded, selected offences, Canada, 2017 and 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), 2017, 2018, reported and unfounded, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence 2017Note r: revised 2018
Reported Unfounded Reported Unfounded
number number percent number number percent
Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic) 2,117,353 153,224 7 2,175,334 141,409 7
Total violent crime 461,899 55,273 12 474,805 51,038 11
Homicide 666 0 0 651 0 0
Other violations causing deathTable 2 Note 1 121 21 17 132 17 13
Attempted murder 830 9 1 812 5 1
Sexual assault - level 3 - aggravated 175 15 9 173 15 9
Sexual assault - level 2 - weapon or bodily harm 453 30 7 479 20 4
Sexual assault - level 1 28,196 4,039 14 31,757 3,633 11
Sexual violations against childrenTable 2 Note 2Table 2 Note 3 9,604 1,328 14 9,824 1,164 12
Assault - level 3 - aggravated 3,630 46 1 3,574 45 1
Assault - level 2 - weapon or bodily harm 53,816 1,676 3 55,319 1,540 3
Assault - level 1 184,253 20,974 11 189,140 19,776 10
Assault against a peace officer 11,024 59 1 11,672 45 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded
Other assaults 2,198 225 10 2,371 221 9
Firearms - use of, discharge, pointing 3,047 281 9 3,075 266 9
Robbery 24,027 1,196 5 23,672 1,222 5
Forcible confinement or kidnapping 4,288 509 12 3,929 484 12
Trafficking in personsTable 2 Note 4 314 46 15 274 46 17
Extortion 3,350 164 5 4,820 156 3
Criminal harassment 25,123 5,241 21 24,568 4,992 20
Uttering threats 76,376 13,085 17 78,362 11,854 15
Indecent and harassing communicationsTable 2 Note 5 21,827 5,246 24 22,267 4,625 21
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images 1,709 197 12 1,629 169 10
Commodification of sexual activityTable 2 Note 6 1,185 67 6 1,062 35 3
Other violent Criminal Code violations 5,687 819 14 5,243 708 14
Total property crime 1,264,768 71,449 6 1,303,532 66,208 5
Breaking and entering 171,107 11,481 7 170,888 11,076 6
Possess stolen propertyTable 2 Note 7 25,664 1,465 6 25,313 1,415 6
Theft of motor vehicle 94,515 9,400 10 95,320 9,188 10
Theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) 18,731 1,466 8 21,407 1,294 6
Shoplifting under $5,000 109,475 1,162 1 126,026 1,093 1
Theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) 419,235 22,363 5 426,916 20,537 5
Fraud 120,349 7,183 6 135,613 6,204 5
Identity theft 3,455 160 5 3,884 139 4
Identity fraud 14,822 478 3 16,237 398 2
MischiefTable 2 Note 8 277,492 14,917 5 272,679 13,615 5
Arson 9,923 1,374 14 9,249 1,249 14
Total other Criminal Code offences 390,686 26,502 7 396,997 24,163 6
Weapons violations 18,265 2,395 13 19,000 2,390 13
Child pornographyTable 2 Note 9Table 2 Note 10 7,581 1,161 15 6,679 836 13
ProstitutionTable 2 Note 6 139 17 12 116 6 5
TerrorismTable 2 Note 11 199 109 55 153 51 33
Disturb the peace 103,214 6,663 6 100,246 5,868 6
Administration of justice violations 229,343 12,081 5 238,217 11,353 5
Other violations 31,945 4,076 13 32,586 3,659 11
Total Criminal Code traffic violations 129,374 3,958 3 129,353 3,809 3
Alcohol-impaired drivingTable 2 Note 12Table 2 Note 13 69,008 3,394 5 68,881 3,228 5
Drug-impaired drivingTable 2 Note 12Table 2 Note 14 3,836 342 9 4,791 368 8
Alcohol- and drug-impaired drivingTable 2 Note 15 Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 305 61 20
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 2 Note 15 Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 87 10 11
Other Criminal Code traffic violations 56,530 222 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded 55,289 142 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded
Total drug offences 96,571 3,585 4 85,941 2,458 3
Total other federal statute violations 32,317 1,555 5 27,345 1,261 5
Human trafficking under the Immigration and Refugee Protection ActTable 2 Note 16 124 21 17 128 16 13
Youth Criminal Justice Act 5,571 74 1 4,899 76 2
Other federal statutes 26,622 1,460 5 22,318 1,169 5
Total - all violations 2,375,615 162,322 7 2,417,973 148,937 6
... not applicable
0s value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded
r revised
Note 1

Includes, for example, criminal negligence causing death.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Excludes sexual assaults against children and youth, which are reported as level 1, 2 or 3 sexual assault.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Includes sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, luring a child via telecommunications/agreement or arrangement, making sexually explicit material available to a child for the purpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth, and the offences of parent or guardian procuring sexual activity, householder permitting prohibited sexual activity, agreement or arrangement of a sexual offence against a child, and bestiality in the presence of or inciting a child (s. 160(3)). Incidents of child pornography are not included in the category of sexual violations against children.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note 4

"Trafficking in persons" includes four specific indictable offences to address human trafficking, namely sections 279.01 (Trafficking in persons), 279.011 (Trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen years), 279.02 (Material benefit), and 279.03 (Withholding or destroying documents).

Return to note 4 referrer

Note 5

This offence was amended in the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act: Bill C-13 (2015) to include all means of telecommunication, not only phone calls.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note 6

In December 2014, new legislation came into effect governing prostitution-related activities. The new legislation targets “the exploitation that is inherent in prostitution and the risks of violence posed to those who engage in it” (Criminal Code Chapter 25, preamble). New violations classified as “commodification of sexual activity” under “violent crime” include: the purchasing of sexual services or communicating for that purpose, receiving a material benefit deriving from the purchase of sexual services, procuring of persons for the purpose of prostitution and advertising sexual services offered for sale. In addition, a number of other offences related to prostitution continue to be considered non-violent offences and are classified under “other Criminal Code offences.” These include communicating to provide sexual services for consideration and stopping or impeding traffic for the purpose of offering, providing or obtaining sexual services for consideration.

Return to note 6 referrer

Note 7

Includes trafficking and the intent to traffic stolen goods.

Return to note 7 referrer

Note 8

Includes altering/removing/destroying a vehicle identification number.

Return to note 8 referrer

Note 9

Due to the complexity of these cyber incidents, the data likely reflect the number of active or closed investigations for the year rather than the total number of incidents reported to police. Data are based on police-reported incidents that are recorded in police services’ records management systems.

Return to note 9 referrer

Note 10

The offence of “child pornography” includes offences under section 163.1 of the Criminal Code which makes it illegal to access, possess, make, print, or distribute child pornography. When the actual victim is not identified, this offence is reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey with the most serious offence being “child pornography” which falls under the larger crime category of “other Criminal Code offences”. In cases where an actual victim is identified, police will report the most serious offence as sexual assault, sexual exploitation or other sexual violations against children, which fall under the category of “violent crime” and child pornography may be reported as a secondary violation.

Return to note 10 referrer

Note 11

Includes seven terrorism violations which were introduced mid-year in 2013, as a result of the enactment of Bill S-7 (An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act and the Security of Information Act). An additional terrorism violation code was introduced in late 2015, as a result of the enactment of Bill C-51 Anti-terrorism Act. Due to the length of time for investigations to confirm whether or not the incident is founded, annual counts of terrorism offences are subject to revisions downwards when revised data are released one year after the initial release; therefore, changes between the current year of data and the previous year should be interpreted with caution.

Return to note 11 referrer

Note 12

In 2008, the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey was modified to create new violation codes for drug-impaired operation of a vehicle, drug-impaired operation of a vehicle causing death or bodily harm, failure or refusal to comply with testing for the presence of drugs and failure or refusal to provide a breath or blood sample. Prior to 2008, those offences would have been coded together with alcohol-impaired driving violations.

Return to note 12 referrer

Note 13

Includes alcohol-impaired operation of a vehicle, alcohol-impaired operation of a vehicle causing death or bodily harm, failure or refusal to comply with testing for the presence of alcohol and failure or refusal to provide a breath or blood sample. In some jurisdictions, including British Columbia, impaired driving incidents that meet the elements of the Criminal Code may be handled using a provincial statute. Collection of these incidents is within the scope of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Return to note 13 referrer

Note 14

Includes drug-impaired operation of a vehicle, drug-impaired operation of a vehicle causing death or bodily harm, failure or refusal to comply with testing for the presence of drugs and failure or refusal to provide a breath or blood sample. In some jurisdictions, including British Columbia, impaired driving incidents that meet the elements of the Criminal Code may be handled using a provincial statute. Collection of these incidents is within the scope of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Return to note 14 referrer

Note 15

Reflects new impaired driving offences as per Bill C-46 "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (offences relating to conveyances) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts" which came into effect part way through 2018.

Return to note 15 referrer

Note 16

Includes human trafficking violations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Data specific to these offences are not available prior to 2011.

Return to note 16 referrer

Note: Data for unfounded incidents are available for 2017 even though inconsistencies in reporting may still exist. Police-reported statistics may be affected by differences in the way police services deal with offences. In some instances, police or municipalities might choose to deal with some offences using municipal bylaws or provincial provisions rather than Criminal Code provisions. Counts are based on the most serious violation in the incident. One incident may involve multiple violations.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
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