Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2019

Since 1962, Statistics Canada has collected information on all criminal incidents reported by Canadian police services through its annual Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey.^Note  In addition to the UCR, Statistics Canada also collects information on self-reported criminal victimization through the General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), which is conducted every five years. Unlike the UCR, the GSS on Victimization collects self-reported data which includes incidents that may not have been brought to the attention of the police. These complementary surveys provide a more complete picture of crime and victimization in Canada.

This Juristat article presents findings from the 2019 UCR Survey to provide information on police-reported crime across Canada and over time. To publish police-reported crime statistics in a timely manner, this article relies on aggregate data (totals), which are the first crime data available each calendar year. More detailed (disaggregated) data on the characteristics of incidents, victims and accused will be available following the release of this article, and will be accessible for custom requests and inclusion in future analytical products.^Note  Crime counts presented in the article are based on the most serious violation in a criminal incident (see “Key terminology and definitions”). This article provides an analysis of the key statistical trends reported by police in 2019, and the offences driving these trends in crime. The article also explores more general trends in the volume and severity of police-reported crime at the national, provincial/territorial and census metropolitan area (CMA) levels, as well as more detailed information on changes in violent and non-violent criminal offences. Finally, the article looks at trends for youth accused of crime.^Note 

Police-reported crime statistics reflect only those incidents that are reported to the police which can be affected by large-scale criminal events, social movements and changes in legislation, policies and procedures (see Text box 1).

It is important to note that the police-reported crime statistics from 2019 do not reflect the large-scale societal impacts, both nationally and globally, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The 2019 police-reported data are, however, a key reference point for 2020 police-reported data, in order to identify possible changes in Canadian crime patterns as a result of changes imposed by the pandemic. Statistics Canada is conducting a special data collection exercise with a select number of police services from March to December 2020 to address data gaps and provide insight into public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information see the report “Police-reported crime incidents down during the early months of the pandemic, while domestic disturbance calls increase” in The Daily, as well as data table 35-10-0169-01 (Statistics Canada 2020a). Additional information on the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on “Statistics Canada’s COVID-19 hub.”

Start of text box 1

End of text box 1

Key statistical trends for police-reported crime in Canada

In 2019, there were significant changes for certain offences that highlight how police-reported crime is evolving in Canada. Specifically, these include the continued increase in the rate of police-reported sexual assault, as well as increases in the rates of child pornography, violent offences specific to firearms and non-violent weapons violations, harassing or threatening behaviours, fraud and shoplifting of $5,000 or under; and legislative and reporting changes regarding cannabis and other drug offences.

Rate of police-reported sexual assault notably higher for third consecutive year, and fifth consecutive annual increase overall

In 2019, there were more than 30,900 police-reported sexual assaults (level 1, 2 and 3), or 82 incidents per 100,000 population (Table 1).^Note  With the rate 7% higher than in 2018, this marked the third consecutive notable increase and the fifth consecutive increase since 2015 (Chart 1). Between 2018 and 2019, the rate of police-reported sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3) increased in all provinces and territories, with the exception of Nova Scotia (-15%) (Table 5).^Note 

Chart 1 start

Chart 1 end

Over the past three years there has been considerable public discussion of issues around sexual violence and this may have had an impact on the willingness of victims to report sexual assault incidents to police (Rotenberg and Cotter 2018). In addition, definitions for founded and unfounded criminal incidents were amended which have also contributed to higher levels of police-reported crime statistics. On January 1, 2018, Statistics Canada, in collaboration with police, changed the definition of “founded” criminal incidents to include incidents where there is no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not take place and third-party reports that fit these criteria (see Text box 2). With the new definition, there is the potential that police will classify more incidents as founded. Analysis of estimates of level 1 sexual assault without the change in reporting standards suggests that the increase in the rate of police-reported sexual assault in 2019 may have been 3%, compared to the 7% increase reported in 2019 (see Text box 2 and “Survey description”).

Proportion of police-reported sexual assault deemed unfounded declines

Following the trend from previous years, nearly all (98%) police-reported sexual assaults were classified as level 1 sexual assault, meaning they were committed without a weapon or without evidence of bodily harm (see “Key terminology and definitions”). In 2019, 10%, or one in ten, level 1 sexual assaults reported to police were classified as unfounded, meaning it had been determined through police investigation that the incident reported did not occur, nor was it attempted. This represents a decrease of unfounded incidents from 14% in 2017 (Table 2). For comparison, the proportion of common physical assault (level 1) classified as unfounded dropped from 11% in 2017 to 10% in 2019.

The number of sexual assaults reported by police is likely a significant underestimation of the true extent of sexual assault in Canada, as these types of offences often go unreported to police. For instance, the most recently available self-reported data from the General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization) show that, in 2014, only 5%^Note E of sexual assault incidents experienced by Canadians aged 15 and older in the previous 12 months were brought to the attention of police (Conroy and Cotter 2017; see also Rotenberg 2017a; Rotenberg 2017b). Similarly, more recent data from the 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces indicate that police were informed about the most serious incident of sexual assault reported by 5% of the women who were victims of sexual assault in the 12 months preceding the survey (Cotter and Savage 2019).

Start of text box 2

End of text box 2

Significant increase in rate of police-reported child pornography

Despite a decrease (-9%) in 2018, the national rate of police-reported total child pornography^Note  has generally been trending upward for the past 10 years (Chart 2).^{Note  Note} 

Chart 2 start

Chart 2 end

In 2019, the national rate of police-reported child pornography (23 incidents per 100,000 population) increased 46%, with an increase of 2,881 incidents from 2018 (Table 1). This was the largest annual increase in the national rate dating back to 2008. The severity of child pornography offences, combined with the notable increase in child pornography incidents in 2019, contributed to child pornography being one of the primary drivers of the overall Crime Severity Index (CSI) and the Non-Violent CSI (NVCSI) in Canada (see Text box 3 and Text box 4).

Among the provinces and territories, with the exceptions of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Nunavut, all saw increases in total child pornography from 2018 to 2019. The majority of the national increase was due to more incidents in British Columbia (+1,320 incidents, +67% rate), Ontario (+947 incidents, +61% rate) and Quebec (+310 incidents, +28% rate).

All of the census metropolitan areas (CMA),^Note  except Québec, Sherbrooke, Belleville, London, Greater Sudbury, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton, reported increases in total child pornography incidents in 2019. Vancouver (+997 incidents) and Toronto (+609 incidents) reported the largest increases in the number of total child pornography violations. Together, these two CMAs represented 60% of the increase in incidents in child pornography from 2018 to 2019.

These particularly large increases in total child pornography may be attributed in part to an increase in the number of cases forwarded to local police services by the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (NCECC), which serves as the national law enforcement arm of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet. In 2019, Public Safety Canada announced the expansion of the National Strategy with increased funding over three years to support awareness of online child sexual exploitation, reduce stigma of reporting, and increase Canada’s ability to pursue and prosecute offenders of sexual exploitation of children online (Public Safety Canada 2019a). Additionally, part of the increase in British Columbia could be the result of a pilot project initiated by the British Columbia Behavioural Sciences Group – Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (BSG) in 2014. The BSG used software developed by the Child Rescue Coalition to identify computers located in the province that were used to access or share child pornography on the Internet, from which they could open an investigation (for more information on the software see Child Rescue Coalition 2020).

Another factor cited by police services that may have contributed to the increase in rates of total child pornography is the continued compliance with former Bill C-22 “An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service.” Essentially, the act requires that persons or entities providing an Internet service to the public must report known or suspected offences of child pornography to the police.

Increase in rate of Criminal Code firearm offences for fifth consecutive year

The Criminal Code specifies a number of violent offences involving the use of a firearm, including discharging a firearm with intent, pointing a firearm and using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence.^Note  More serious crimes, however, such as homicide, robbery, assault and sexual assault, may have also involved a firearm.

Among violent offences involving the use of a firearm that are specified in the Criminal Code, 43% in 2019 were for discharging a firearm with intent, while another 41% were for pointing a firearm. The remaining 16% were for using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence. The number of violent offences specific to firearms increased by 642 incidents in 2019 (from 2,861 in 2018 to 3,503 in 2019), a 21% increase in rate (Table 1). This marks the fifth consecutive increase, and the second relatively large change following a 26% rise in 2015. Police reported an increase in the rate of all three violent firearm violations: discharging a firearm with intent (+28%, +341 incidents), pointing of a firearm (+17%, +223 incidents), and using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence (+14%, +78 incidents). Much of the increase in firearm-related offences in 2019 was the result of more incidents in Ontario (+268) and British Columbia (+162).^Note 

Additionally, the rate of non-violent weapons violations (e.g., possession of weapons and unsafe storage of firearms) has increased for the fifth consecutive year, rising 11% to 50 incidents per 100,000 population (Table 1). The vast majority (91%) of these violations were related to possession of weapons offences and breach offences for weapons possession contrary to an order. For the increase in 2019, some police services have indicated that this could be the result of more reporting due to collaboration with the Canadian Firearms Program as part of a nationwide effort to address unregistered restricted or prohibited firearms.

Increases in offences related to harassing and threatening behaviours

In 2019, Canada saw significant increases in the rates of many types of criminally harassing and threatening behaviours. In particular, criminal harassment (+3,634 incidents, +17% rate per 100,000 population), uttering threats (+14,555 incidents, +20% rate), indecent or harassing communications (+5,517 incidents, +29% rate), and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images (+489 incidents, +31% rate) all saw large increases since 2018 (Table 1; Chart 3). Indeed, uttering threats was the largest contributor to the national increase in the Violent Crime Severity Index in 2019 (see Text box 5).

Chart 3 start

Chart 3 end

Despite the large national increases from 2018 to 2019, uttering threats and indecent and harassing behaviours had all generally been decreasing since 2009 but have been on an upward trend since the mid-2010s, with the largest increases in 2019. Notably, the rate of indecent and harassing communications decreased from 2009 to 2014, and has been on a general upward trend from 2015 to 2019.^Note 

The rate of non-consensual distribution of intimate images has increased each year since its introduction in 2015,^Note  with the exception of a slight decrease (-3%) in 2018. In 2019, the national rate (5 per 100,000 population) was significantly higher than it was in 2015 (1 per 100,000 population).

In addition to the amendments and new offences introduced in 2015 by the former Bill-C13 “Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act,” the national increases in harassing and threatening offences can be attributed to increases in the accessibility and use of the Internet and social media. The perceived anonymity of the Internet and social media can facilitate criminal harassment, uttering threats and indecent and harassing behaviours (Dhillon 2012; Perrin 2018). In addition, advancements in cell phone technology and the availability of cloud-based sharing platforms could have contributed to the increases seen in the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. Increased focus on the enforcement and reporting accuracy of cybercrime, and increased awareness of cybercrime by both the public and police may have also contributed to the change.

Police-reported fraud continues to increase, growing for the eighth consecutive year

The rate of police-reported total fraud (including identity theft and identity fraud) continued to increase for the eighth consecutive year, with a 10% increase between 2018 and 2019, and marked a 64% increase over the rate reported a decade ago (Chart 4; Table 1).^Note  While fraud is not an especially severe crime in the CSI, it is a high volume crime which contributed to making fraud, for the second consecutive year, the primary driver for the increase in the overall CSI and the increase in the Non-violent CSI (NVCSI) in Canada (see Text box 3 and Text box 4).

Chart 4 start

Chart 4 end

According to some police services, part of the increase in fraud was attributable to increased access for reporting fraud online. Additionally, certain types of scams have drawn the attention of the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC) and the news media, particularly general online, telephone or text message scams, such as the “Canada Revenue Agency scam” and pre-paid gift card scams (Breen 2018; CAFC 2020; Common and Vellani 2018; Crawford 2019; Whan 2018; Landreville 2020). In April 2020, Canadians made 12,900 reports of fraud to the CAFC and the Better Business Bureau, an increase of 9,000 reports from the same month a year prior (Landreville 2020). According to the CAFC, in 2019 there were 19,285 victims of fraud and over $98 million lost due to fraud.

Notable increases in the rate of police-reported total fraud were reported in the most populous provinces: Ontario (+12%), Quebec (+14%), British Columbia (+12%), Alberta (+4%) and Manitoba (+23%), which drove the national increase (Table 5).

Increases in the rate of total fraud were reported in 25 of 35 CMAs in 2019 (Table 13). The largest rate increases were reported in Greater Sudbury (+37%), Trois-Rivières (+36%), Winnipeg (+30%), Barrie (+27%) and Guelph (+27%). The largest decreases were reported in Moncton (-22%, following a 56% increase in 2018), Lethbridge (-16%), Saskatoon (-14%) and Saint John (-14%). Together, the four CMAs of Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver and Edmonton accounted for over half (54%) of police-reported fraud among the CMAs, and all four experienced increases in 2019.

Large increase in police-reported shoplifting of $5,000 or under for second consecutive year

In 2019, police reported more than 140,200 incidents of shoplifting of $5,000 or under, a rate of 373 incidents per 100,000 population. Following four years of more marginal increases, police-reported shoplifting experienced large increases in 2018 (+14%) and 2019 (+11%) (Chart 4). Part of this increase could have been due to changes in the definition of “founded” when classifying reported incidents (see Text box 2). Compared to 2009, the rate of shoplifting has increased 35%, while theft of $5,000 or under (non-shoplifting) decreased 19% over that same time period.

Relatively large increases in the rate of shoplifting in Manitoba (+48%), Alberta (+37%) and British Columbia (+18%) were the primary drivers for the national increase reported in 2019. In contrast, the rate declined in Ontario (-6%), following a fairly large increase (+18%) in the previous year (however the rate in 2019 was still higher than any other year in the previous two decades). As in 2018, certain CMAs drove the national increase, including Edmonton (+57%), Winnipeg (+54%), Ottawa (+39%), Vancouver (+20%) and Calgary (+18%). Unlike the previous year, there was a significant decline in the rate of shoplifting in the Toronto CMA (-26%) (Table 13).

Overall, the Western region experienced increases in the rate of shoplifting in all CMAs except for Victoria (-10%). There continued to be a surge in shoplifting reports by news media across the country that had begun in 2018, particularly in liquor stores, with shoplifting—as well as other property and violent crime—linked to the illicit use of methamphetamines. (CBC News 2019; Graveland 2018; Hoye 2019; Mitchell 2019; Potter and Winsa 2019; Selley 2019; Turner 2019; Vanraes 2019). Additionally, some police services have indicated that store owners are being urged to report incidents of shoplifting online and over the phone, as well as through secure company servers, which could have also contributed to the continued increase in police-reported shoplifting offences.

Rates of police-reported cannabis offences decline for eighth consecutive year

In 2017, possession, trafficking, production, importation and exportation of cannabis for non-medical purposes fell under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and were prohibited by law in Canada until the Cannabis Act came into force on October 17, 2018. The Cannabis Act provides a legal framework for the legalization and regulation of the production, distribution, sale, possession, importation and exportation of cannabis in Canada (Parliament of Canada 2018). Several new violations were subsequently added to the UCR as of October 17, 2018 – for a detailed list of these violations, please refer to Text box 3 in the “Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2018” report (Moreau 2019a).

Since 2012, national police-reported rates of cannabis-related drug offences have been declining, notably in 2018 and 2019 (Chart 5). In 2019, there were over 70,100 total drug offences reported by police, representing a rate of 187 per 100,000 population, of which cannabis-related drug offences (CDSA and Cannabis Act) accounted for 24% (Table 3). Historically, this is by far the lowest proportion of cannabis offences relative to all drug-related offences – from 1986 to 2015, cannabis offences accounted for, on average, 68% of all drug-related offences.

Chart 5 start

Chart 5 end

Following more than 14 months of enforcement, police have reported a total of 18,097 incidents under the new Cannabis Act. The most commonly reported offences were related to importation or exportation (64% of all Cannabis Act offences), possession (13%), and sale (7%) (Table 3). In comparison, prior to the legalization of cannabis, possession accounted for about 8 in 10 (75%) of cannabis offences. Due to legalization under the Cannabis Act, possession is only illegal under certain circumstances. The Montréal CMA in particular accounted for 56% of all importation or exportation offences reported under the Cannabis Act (6,323 of the 11,193 offences reported nationally). The high proportion of offences in Montréal was due in part to cannabis seizures conducted by the Canada Border Services Agency in Montréal that were thought to be related to possible misunderstanding by the public about the legality under the new legislation of purchasing cannabis from outside of Canada and having it delivered into the country.

Provincially, the rates of cannabis offences in Quebec (104 per 100,000 population) and British Columbia (74 per 100,000 population) were significantly higher than the national rate (45 per 100,000 population) (Table 4). Historically, British Columbia reported highest rates of cannabis-related drug offences under the CDSA legislation relative to the other provinces, while Quebec reported the second highest rate in 2017 and 2018.

Police-reported opioid-related drug offences continue to be highest in British Columbia

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, over a three year period from 2016 to 2019, more than 15,000 people in Canada lost their lives as a result of opioid overdoses, which continues to be a crisis in many Canadian communities. Of the apparent opioid-related deaths in 2019, 77% involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogues (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2020).^Note 

In 2019, there were 3,766 opioid-related offences in Canada, a 48% rate increase compared to 2018 (Table 4).^Note  The increase was due to more possession and trafficking offences, while offences related to the importation or exportation of opioids decreased. Among the provinces, the highest rates were reported in British Columbia (38 per 100,000 population), Alberta (12) and Ontario (8) (Table 4). The CMAs with the highest rates of opioid-related offences were Kelowna (124) and Lethbridge (95), followed by Vancouver (35), Abbotsford-Mission (31) and Brantford (29). Western Canada continues to be the most impacted region of the country, but rates have begun to increase in other areas as well (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2020).

The rate of heroin offences (8 per 100,000 population) decreased 6% in 2019 after trending upward over the previous nine years (Table 3; Table 4). British Columbia accounted for 53% of all heroin-related offences in 2019, however the rate (34 per 100,000 population) remained stable compared to 2018.

Police-reported drug offences related to methamphetamine continue to increase

Methamphetamine-related offences accounted for 21% of all police-reported drug-related crime. A number of police services have indicated that “crystal meth” is a growing issue in their communities and has contributed to increases in all types of crime, including property and violent crimes (Graveland 2018; Huncar 2020; Huncar 2018; Ireland 2020; Wakefield 2019). In 2019, there were 14,446 methamphetamine-related offences, marking an annual rate increase of 3% nationally, continuing a rise in methamphetamine offences dating back to 2008 (Table 4). Possession of methamphetamine had the second highest incident rate (29 incidents per 100,000 population) among all drugs, after importation or exportation of cannabis offences. While the rate of methamphetamine possession rose 1% in 2019, the rate of trafficking rose 17%.

Among the provinces, seven reported increases in the rate of methamphetamine-related offences (Prince Edward Island and Quebec reported decreases) (Table 4). Among CMAs, 15 of 35 reported increases. The CMAs of Calgary, Lethbridge and Hamilton reported some of the most significant increases, while Montréal reported a 41% decrease largely due to a decrease in importation or exportation offences (for more information see data table 35-10-0177-01).

Overall, excluding cannabis, the combined rate of possession offences for other types of drugs has been increasing annually since 2010. In July 2020, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police proposed in a new statement that Canada divert people dealing with substance abuse or addiction issues away from the criminal system and toward social services and health care supports (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 2020).

Police-reported crime in Canada – General trends

Canada’s Crime Severity Index increases for fifth consecutive year

The Crime Severity Index (CSI) measures both the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada and has a base index value of 100 for 2006 (Text box 3). The CSI increased 5% from 75.6 in 2018 to 79.5 in 2019, marking the fifth consecutive annual increase (Table 6; Chart 6). Between 1998 and 2014, the CSI steadily declined, with the exception of a 3% increase reported in 2003. Despite these recent increases, the 2019 CSI was 9% lower than a decade prior.

Chart 6 start

Chart 6 end

The 5% rise in the CSI in 2019 was driven by increases in police-reported rates for numerous offences, most notably fraud and child pornography offences, as well as importation or exportation under the Cannabis Act, uttering threats, mischief, sexual assault (level 1) and shoplifting of $5,000 or under.^Note  Increases were partially offset by a decrease in the rate of police-reported breaking and entering for the fourth consecutive year, as well as a decrease in trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cannabis (CDSA).

At 5,874 incidents per 100,000 population, the police-reported crime rate—which measures the volume of crime per 100,000 population—increased 7% in 2019 (Table 7; Chart 7).

Chart 7 start

Chart 7 end

Canadian police services reported over 2.2 million Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) in 2019, about 164,700 more incidents than in 2018. In addition to these incidents, there were about 136,700 Criminal Code traffic offences, about 70,100 CDSA and Cannabis Act offences, and nearly 23,600 other federal statute violations (such as offences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Customs Act) recorded by police in 2019. In total, there were over 2.4 million police-reported Criminal Code and “other federal statute” violations in 2019.

Although the CSI and the crime rate are separate measures, with the CSI accounting not only for volume but also changes in the relative severity of police-reported crime (Text box 3), both measures show similar trends in police-reported crime in Canada since 1998.

Start of text box 3

End of text box 3

Twelve of thirteen provinces and territories report increases in Crime Severity Index

Between 2018 and 2019, 12 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories reported increases in their CSI (Table 8). Only Quebec (-1%) reported a decrease in its CSI. As has been the case since 1998, British Columbia and the Prairie provinces have had the highest CSIs among the provinces, while the three Territories have reported the highest CSIs overall.^Note  Fraud, child pornography, homicide, and breaking and entering offences were common contributing factors for increases or decreases in CSIs among the provinces and territories (Text box 4).

Start of text box 4

End of text box 4

Six provinces reported a lower CSI in 2019 than in 2009, while eight reported lower crime rates over the same period (Table 8 and Table 9; Charts 8 to 11). The three territories each reported higher CSIs and higher crime rates in 2019 compared to 2018, as well as when compared to 2009.

Chart 8 start

Chart 8 end

Chart 9 start

Chart 9 end

Chart 10 start

Chart 10 end

Chart 11 start

Chart 11 end

Less than half of census metropolitan areas record increases in the severity of police-reported crime

Between 2018 and 2019, 16 of 35 census metropolitan areas (CMA) reported increases in their CSI (Table 10; Chart 12).^Note  The largest increases in CSI were recorded in the CMAs of Kelowna (+20%), Victoria (+16%), Belleville (+13%) and Vancouver (+11%). The offences contributing to the increases in these CMAs were somewhat varied, though generally breaking and entering, fraud, child pornography and sexual assault (level 1) drove the increase to varying degrees (Table 11).^Note 

Chart 12 start

Chart 12 end

The largest decreases in CSI between 2018 and 2019 were reported in Brantford (-10%), Sherbrooke (-10%), Halifax (-10%), and Guelph (-9%) (Table 11). Similar to the CMAs with large year-over-year increases, those showing decreases were driven by a variety of offences, including, in part, decreases in the rate of breaking and entering (except in Sherbrooke).

Similar to the provincial trend, the highest CSIs are typically recorded in CMAs located in British Columbia and the Prairie provinces, whereas the lowest CSIs are most often recorded in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Lethbridge (141.8), Winnipeg (131.7), Regina (130.0) and Kelowna (121.4) were the CMAs with the highest CSIs in 2019, and all reported increases from the previous year. Relatively high CSIs were also recorded in Saskatoon (117.3), Edmonton (114.9) and Moncton (108.9). The CMAs with the lowest CSIs were Québec (43.8), Sherbrooke (47.2) and Saguenay (47.7), followed by Trois-Rivières (51.8), Barrie (53.1), Toronto (54.2) and Peterborough (54.4).

Police-reported violent crime

In 2019, police-reported violent crime continued to account for about one-fifth (22%) of all police-reported Criminal Code offences (excluding traffic). There were over 480,000 police-reported violent incidents in 2019, marking an 11% rise in the rate of police-reported violent offences (1,277 per 100,000 population versus 1,152 in 2018). This is the largest annual increase in rate of violent crime dating back to 1998. Despite this, the rate was still 3% lower than a decade earlier (Table 7). Violent crime refers to those violations in the Criminal Code identified as crimes against the person, as opposed to property crimes and other Criminal Code violations such as offences against the administration of justice.^Note 

Between 2018 and 2019, there were rate increases for many police-reported violent violations, most notably trafficking in persons (+41%),^Note  non-consensual distribution of intimate images (+31%),^Note  indecent or harassing communications (+29%),^Note  violent firearms offences (+21%), and uttering threats (+20%).

National Violent Crime Severity Index increases fifth consecutive year, with increases in all provinces and territories

In 2019, the overall volume and severity of violent crime—as measured by the Violent Crime Severity Index (VCSI)—was 89.7, a 7% increase over 2018 but 5% lower than in 2009 (Table 6; Chart 6). The VCSI fell every year between 2007 and 2014, before increasing for five consecutive years.

The largest contributor to the increase in the VCSI in 2019 was a 20% increase in the rate of uttering threats and, to a lesser extent, a 7% increase in sexual assault (level 1) (see Text box 5). Sexual assault (level 1) was also an important contributor to the increase in the VCSI in both 2017 and 2018. Overall, the rate increased for 20 of the 24 violent offences or offence groupings typically reported by the UCR (Table 1).

All of the provinces and territories recorded increases in their VCSI in 2019, though the national increase was driven primarily by rises in British Columbia^Note  and the Prairie provinces (Table 8).

Almost two-thirds of the census metropolitan areas record increases in the severity of police-reported violent crime

Increases in VCSIs were reported in 22 out of 35 CMAs. The largest increases were reported in Kelowna (+65%),^Note  Belleville (+28%), Saskatoon (+24%) and Peterborough (+21%) (Table 10). Most of the increases were driven by increases in sexual assault (level 1), robbery or homicide.

Similarly, the largest decreases in VCSI among the CMAs were typically the result of decreases in robbery and homicide, among other offences. The largest decreases were reported in Guelph (-17%, driven by decreases in sexual violations against children, assault (level 1) and extortion), Sherbrooke (-16%, driven by decreases in homicide and robbery) and Halifax (-13%, driven by decreases in sexual assault [level 1], robbery and homicide).

In 2019, the CMAs with the highest VCSIs were Winnipeg (174.0), Thunder Bay (145.9), Saskatoon (134.7) and Regina (132.6). From 2005 to 2019, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg and Regina consistently reported among the highest VCSI values of all CMAs, with Thunder Bay and Winnipeg reporting among the three highest values every year for the past nine years. Thunder Bay also reported the third highest violent crime rate (1,619 violent incidents per 100,000 population) in 2019, behind Lethbridge (1,858) and Moncton (1,785) (Table 12; Chart 13). The lowest VCSIs were reported in Guelph (52.1), Sherbrooke (56.3), St. Catharines-Niagara (56.8) and Québec (57.3).

Chart 13 start

Chart 13 end

Start of text box 5

End of text box 5

National homicide rate increases in 2019, notably in the Prairie provinces

In 2019, police reported 678 homicides, 20 more than the previous year.^Note  The national homicide rate increased 2% from 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population in 2018, to 1.80 homicides per 100,000 population in 2019. Homicides represented 0.1% of all violent crimes, down from the last four years where homicides accounted for 0.2%. However, 2019 is the third consecutive year in which the homicide rate was higher than the average for the previous decade (1.67 per 100,000 population for 2009 to 2018) (Table 1; Chart 14; data table 35-10-0068-01).

Chart 14 start

Chart 14 end

The increase in the national number of homicides was driven by Saskatchewan (+21), Alberta (+19, following a relatively large decrease in 2018) and Manitoba (+17). This was partially offset by decreases in Ontario (-26, following a relatively large increase in 2018) and Quebec (-6). As has been the case with provincial comparisons historically, rates were highest in Manitoba (5.26 homicides per 100,000 population) and Saskatchewan (4.68). A high rate was also observed in Nunavut (18.05 homicides per 100,000 population), but less so in the Northwest Territories (4.46) and in Yukon (2.45). The relatively small population counts in the Territories typically translate to higher and more unstable rates, making year-over-year comparisons less meaningful (Table 5; data table 35-10-0068-01).

For the fourth consecutive year, Thunder Bay recorded the highest homicide rate among CMAs (5.56 homicides per 100,000 population) (Table 13). For the second consecutive year, Lethbridge recorded no homicides, alongside Guelph, Saguenay and Trois-Rivières.

With 130 homicides, Toronto, Canada’s most populous CMA, had the most homicides and tenth highest rate (2.03 per 100,000 population) in 2019. The rate of homicide in the Toronto CMA decreased in 2019 (-12%), although it was still higher than other annual rates recorded by Toronto this decade.^Note 

Overall, the Winnipeg CMA had the largest increase in the number of homicides from 2018 to 2019 (+22). According to the Winnipeg police, in 2019, Winnipeg had been dealing with a record breaking number of homicide cases and rising violent property crimes (Froese 2019; Unger 2019).

Number of homicides with a firearm increased from 2018

At 261, the number of homicides where a firearm was the primary weapon used to commit the homicide (firearm-related) in Canada saw an increase of 4% (+10 homicides) from 2018 to 2019, with the associated rate increasing 3%. Over 40% of homicides in Canada in 2019 were firearm-related and handguns remained the most common firearm used to commit a homicide, which has been the case since 1995.^Note  Handguns accounted for 60% of firearm-related homicides in 2019.^Note  Under one-third (28%) of firearm-related homicides occurred in non-CMAs. In 2019, 51% of firearm-related homicides were related to gang activity. Provincially, rates of firearm-related homicide were highest in Saskatchewan (1.62 per 100,000 population), Manitoba (1.46 per 100,000 population) and New Brunswick (1.29), compared to the national rate (0.69) (Chart 15). For more information on firearm-related homicide, see data table 35-10-0072-01.

Chart 15 start

Chart 15 end

Gang-related homicides up slightly, still largely committed with handguns

Nationally, there were 162 gang-related homicides in 2019, six more than in 2018. The majority (86%) were committed with a firearm, most often a handgun (78%).^{Note  Note  Note}  In 2019, gang-related homicide committed with a firearm represented 21% of all homicides, a larger proportion than in 2018 (20%). Overall, gang-related homicides continued to account for about one-quarter (24%) of all homicides and marked the second highest rate (0.43 per 100,000 population) recorded in Canada since comparable data were first collected in 2005. For more information on gang-related homicide, see data table 35-10-0075-01.

The increase in gang-related homicides in 2019 was driven by more victims in Saskatchewan (+10) and Ontario (+9), and more specifically, the CMAs of Toronto (+7), Regina (+4) and Saskatoon (+4).

Rate of homicide for Indigenous peoples six and a half times higher than for non-Indigenous peoples

In 2019, there were 174 Indigenous victims of homicide,^Note  an increase from 141 in 2018. This represents a rate increase of 20% for Indigenous peoples in 2019 (8.82 per 100,000 Indigenous peoples in 2019 compared to 7.36 in 2018. This rate was approximately six and a half times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous people in 2019 (1.34 per 100,000 non-Indigenous people).^Note  Of the 174 Indigenous victims of homicide, 63% were identified as First Nations, 3% as Métis and 11% as Inuk (Inuit). For an additional 22% of Indigenous victims of homicide, the Indigenous group to which they belonged was not identified. For more information on Indigenous victims of homicide, see data table 35-10-0156-01.

A history of colonization, including residential schools (the last of which closed in 1996), work camps and forced relocation, is recognized for having profoundly impacted Indigenous communities and families (Bombay et al. 2014; Bombay et al. 2011; Bombay et al. 2009; The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). Indigenous peoples often experience social and institutional marginalization, discrimination, and various forms of trauma and violence—including intergenerational trauma and gender-based violence. As a result, many Indigenous peoples experience challenging social and economic circumstances (Arriagada et al. 2020; MMIWG 2019; Statistics Canada 2020b; The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). These factors play a significant role in the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and as victims of crime (Ontario Human Rights Commission 2003; House of Commons 2018).

In terms of gender, the number of female Indigenous victims decreased from 45 to 40, while the number of male victims rose by 20 (from 96 to 116).^Note  The highest rate of homicide was among Indigenous males (11.89 homicides per 100,000 population), followed by Indigenous females (4.01 per 100,000 population) and non-Indigenous males (2.04 per 100,000 population). Homicide rates were lowest among non-Indigenous females (0.55 per 100,000 population).

In 2019, 33 victims were identified as missing at the time the homicide became known to police. Of those 33 victims, 7 were reported as Indigenous, with 5 of those victims being female. Although the rates were relatively low, Indigenous victims of homicide were still five times more likely to have been reported missing than non-Indigenous victims (0.35 per 100,000 population compared with 0.07 per 100,000 population).

For more information on homicide victims by age group, gender and Indigenous identity, see data tables 35-10-0156-01 and 35-10-0060-01.

Of the 515 accused persons for whom police reported an Indigenous identity in 2019, 38% were reported by police as Indigenous (194),^Note  a 26% increase from 2018. The rate of Indigenous persons accused of homicide in 2019 was nearly eleven times higher compared to non-Indigenous accused persons. Similar to victims of homicide reported as Indigenous, the majority (67%) of Indigenous persons accused of homicide were identified as First Nations, with fewer reported as Inuk (Inuit) (10%) and Métis (4%). For more information on persons accused of homicide by age group, gender and Indigenous identity, see data table 35-10-0060-01.

One-third of homicide victims identified as belonging to a visible minority group

In Canada, according to the 2016 Census, 22.3% of the population were designated as visible minorities. In 2019, the Homicide Survey was revised to collect for the first time information on whether victims and accused persons were members of population groups designated as visible minorities.^Note  Of the 656 homicide victims for whom police reported a visible minority identity in 2019, police reported 31%, or 206 victims, as visible minorities (44% of whom were identified as Black).^Note  Over half of victims of homicide identified as visible minorities were reported in Ontario (123 or 60%), largely in the CMA of Toronto (97). The province of Ontario has the largest visible minority population, with 51% of people residing in the Toronto CMA designated as visible minorities (Moreau 2019b; Statistics Canada 2017). While persons designated as visible minorities account for 51% of people residing in the Toronto CMA, they accounted for 75% of homicide victims there.

Of the 511 accused persons for whom police reported a visible minority identity in 2019, police reported 24% as visible minorities. Again, these accused were largely reported in Ontario (85 identified accused or 70%).

Most homicide victims knew their killer

Consistent with previous years, the majority (85%) of victims of solved homicides in 2019 knew their killer.^Note  Male victims were most commonly killed by an acquaintance (48%), while female victims were most commonly killed by someone with whom they had current or former intimate relationship, including spouses (50%). According to police-reported statistics, women are overrepresented as victims of intimate partner violence, accounting for almost 8 in 10 victims (79%) (Burczycka 2019). For more information on solved homicides by type of victim-accused relationship, see data table 35-10-0073-01.

In 2019, among solved homicides, the proportion of Indigenous victims killed by someone they knew (89%) was slightly higher than non-Indigenous victims (85%). Indigenous female victims were most often killed by an intimate partner, spouse or family member (73%), whereas Indigenous male victims were most often killed by an acquaintance (53%). Overall, the rate of unsolved homicides for Indigenous female victims was 40% (16 unsolved homicides) compared to 12% (12 unsolved homicides) for non-Indigenous female victims. For more information on solved homicides by type of victim-accused relationship and Indigenous identity, see data table 35-10-0119-01.

For more detailed information on homicide in Canada, see data tables: 35-10-0068-01, 35-10-0069-01, 35-10-0071-01, 35-10-0074-01, and 35-10-0157-01.

Start of text box 6

End of text box 6

Increase in police-reported human trafficking, domestic and international

Police-reported trafficking in persons, or human trafficking, involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, holding, concealing or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purposes of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation by someone else (Public Safety Canada 2019b; UNODC 2018). Victims disproportionately tend to come from vulnerable or marginalized populations, mostly young women or children, and due to the nature of the offence, the true scope of human trafficking in Canada is underestimated (Public Safety Canada 2019b; Department of Justice Canada 2015).

In 2019, there was a combined total of 511 incidents of human trafficking offences reported under the Criminal Code (341 incidents) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) (170 incidents), the highest ever number of reported incidents (Table 1). Overall, the combined number of incidents of human trafficking has been on an upward trend since 2011.^Note 

From 2009 to 2019, there has been a total of 2,468 incidents of human trafficking, with the majority (71%) being Criminal Code human trafficking offences. While Criminal Code incidents may or may not involve the crossing of international borders, the IRPA specifically refers to incidents of cross-border human trafficking, suggesting at least 29% of human trafficking incidents involved the crossing of the Canadian border. The majority of human trafficking incidents were reported in Ontario (1,624 incidents, or 66%), and in general, human trafficking incidents tended to occur in urban centres, notably Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.

For more detailed information on human trafficking in Canada, please refer to Cotter 2020.^Note 

Increase in overall rate of police-reported major physical assault

Physical assault continued to be the most prevalent form of police-reported violent crime in Canada in 2019, accounting for just over half (55%) of violent offences.^Note  Police reported just over 265,500 assaults in 2019, over 23,700 more incidents than in 2018, marking an 8% increase in rate. Most (71%) of the physical assaults reported by police were classified as common assault (level 1), which increased 9% in 2019.^Note 

The national rate of major assault (level 2 and 3) increased in 2019 for the fifth consecutive year due to higher rates of assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm (level 2) (+8%) (Table 5). The increase in the rate of assault (level 2) was largely due to increases in British Columbia (+20%), Manitoba (+11%) and Quebec (+7%). The rate of aggravated assault (level 3) also increased 8% nationally in 2019 (Table 1), primarily driven by increases in the Prairie provinces: Saskatchewan (+14%), Manitoba (+12%) and Alberta (+11%).

Police-reported non-violent crime

In 2019, most crime reported by police continued to be non-violent, with property offences and other Criminal Code offences accounting for nearly four out of five (78%) police-reported Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic). In total, there were over 1.7 million police-reported non-violent incidents in 2019 (excluding traffic), of which more than 1.3 million were property crimes (Table 7). The rate of property crime continued to rise over the last three years, increasing 1% between 2016 and 2017, 3% between 2017 and 2018, and 5% between 2018 and 2019. The property crime rate rose from 3,349 to 3,510 incidents per 100,000 population between 2018 and 2019.

Non-violent Crime Severity Index increases for fifth consecutive year

Between 2018 and 2019, Canada’s Non-violent Crime Severity Index (NVCSI), which includes property and other non-violent Criminal Code offences, drug crime, other federal statutes and Criminal Code traffic offences, rose 4% (Table 6). The primary offences contributing to the increase were fraud, child pornography, and importation or exportation under the new Cannabis Act. These were partially offset by a decline in trafficking, production, and importation or exportation of cannabis offences under the CDSA, as these offences were no longer in force in 2019, and breaking and entering (see Text box 7).

Between 2018 and 2019, 10 of the 13 provinces and territories reported increases in their CSI (Table 8). Among the provinces, the largest increases were reported in British Columbia (+16%) and Prince Edward Island (+14%), while the Territories all increased substantially (Yukon +33%, the Northwest Territories +23% and Nunavut +13%).

As with the VCSI, changes in the CSI varied considerably among the census metropolitan areas (CMA)^Note  in 2019 (Table 10). The largest increases in the CSI were recorded in Victoria (+20%), Kelowna (+13%), Thunder Bay (+12%), Winnipeg (+12%) and Vancouver (+10%). Breaking and entering, fraud, child pornography, and shoplifting of $5,000 or under combined to be significant contributors to the increased CSIs in most of these CMAs. Breaking and entering was also a driver in many of the CMAs with the largest decreases in CSI, such as Brantford (-15%), St. Catharines-Niagara (-10%), Saskatoon (-8%) and Halifax (-8%).

Start of text box 7

End of text box 7

Decrease in rate of police-reported breaking and entering for fourth consecutive year

Police-reported breaking and entering is considered to be the most serious property crime (based on CSI weight). In 2019, breaking and entering continued to be one of the most common forms of property crime, just behind theft of $5,000 or under, and mischief. Almost 161,300 incidents of breaking and entering were reported to police in 2019, accounting for 12% of property crime. Since peaking in 1991, the police-reported rate of breaking and entering has generally been declining in Canada, with three increases reported in 1996, 2003 and 2015 (Chart 16). In 2019, the rate declined 1% nationally to 429 per 100,000 population. Since 2009, the rate of breaking and entering has fallen 30% and, in that year, it accounted for 15% of all police-reported property crime.

Chart 16 start

Chart 16 end

Nunavut (-12%), Quebec (-11%), Nova Scotia (-4%) and Ontario (-4%) reported the largest declines in breaking and entering in 2019 (Table 5). Among the provinces and territories, Yukon (+27%), Prince Edward Island (+8%) and British Columbia (+8%) reported the largest increases. Given its relatively high volume and CSI weight, changes in rates of breaking and entering had a measurable impact on CSIs in most jurisdictions (see Text box 4 and Text box 7).

In 2019, 20 out of 35 CMAs reported decreases in breaking and entering, which resulted in a decrease of 3% in the overall rate among the CMAs (Table 13).

Police-reported motor vehicle theft rate remains stable, but varies considerably by census metropolitan area

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), aspects of motor vehicle theft are related to organized crime, including money laundering and the resale of high-end cars. The most common motivations for motor vehicle theft, according to the IBC, are to sell the stolen vehicle overseas, to resell the vehicle to an unsuspecting buyer, to use the vehicle in “joyriding,” and to steal the vehicle in the commission of another crime and subsequently abandon it (Sommerfeld 2018).

Although there were 874 more motor vehicle thefts in 2019 compared to 2018, the rate remained relatively stable due to an increase in the population size. The rate of motor vehicle theft in Canada was 28% lower in 2019 than a decade earlier (Chart 16). An increase in the rate of motor vehicle theft in Manitoba (+16%) combined with decreases in Saskatchewan (-8%) and Quebec (-5%) were the primary contributors to the net increase in incidents of motor vehicle thefts. As with other police-reported crimes, changes in rates of motor vehicle theft varied considerably by CMA (Table 13).

Largest increase in police-reported impaired driving in over three decades

Police reported nearly 85,700 impaired driving incidents in 2019, over 14,800 more incidents compared to the year before. After declining for six years straight, the rate of impaired driving (alcohol, drugs and unspecified) has increased the last two years, now with a reported rate of 228 incidents per 100,000 population (Chart 17). This marks a rate increase of 19% over the previous year, the largest increase since 1987.

Chart 17 start

Chart 17 end

All of the provinces and territories reported increases from 2018. As in previous years, there was significant variation in the percent change in rate across the provinces and territories (Table 5).

The majority (85%) of police-reported impaired driving incidents continued to involve alcohol in 2019, while a growing proportion (8%) involved drugs. The remaining impaired driving incidents fell under new legislation enacted under former 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 force in two parts – part one on June 21, 2018, and part two on December 18, 2018. This legislation introduced amendments to Criminal Code sections related to impaired driving, including giving police new powers to conduct alcohol and drug screening. New violations were included to capture impaired driving where the substance (whether alcohol or drugs) causing impairments was not known, and violations to capture impaired driving where it was known that impairment was caused by a combination of alcohol and drugs – for more detailed information on the new legislation, please refer to Text Box 3 in the “Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2018” report (Moreau 2019a).

Drug-impaired driving rate up for sixth consecutive year

The rate for all drug-impaired driving violations increased 43% between 2018 and 2019 (Chart 18). In total, there were 6,453 drug-impaired driving violations in 2019, 2,009 more than the previous year (Table 1). Prior to the coming into force of the new impaired driving legislation, in incidents where the driver may have been impaired by both alcohol and drugs, it was generally easier for police to lay charges for alcohol-impaired driving and the majority of cases were reported as such (Owusu-Bempah 2014; Perreault 2016). Under the new legislation, this may be changing – while the rates of both alcohol-impaired and drug-impaired driving incidents increased in 2019, there were also a significant number of incidents reported as impaired driving caused by a combination of alcohol and drugs (4,618 incidents in 2019). Among the provinces, only Ontario reported a decrease in the rate of drug-impaired driving (-5%), yet the province accounted for a third (34%) of incidents of impaired driving caused by a combination of alcohol and drugs.

Chart 18 start

Chart 18 end

Police do not report the type of drug associated with a drug-impaired driving incidents for the purposes of the UCR. As such, it is difficult to determine the impact of the new cannabis legalization on drug-impaired driving. According to Statistics Canada’s National Cannabis Survey (2018 and 2019), among cannabis users with a valid driver’s license, 13% reported driving within two hours of using, which was unchanged from prior to legalization (Roterman 2020).

The number of impaired driving offences reported by police can be influenced by a number of factors, including changes in legislation, varying law enforcement practices across jurisdictions (e.g., roadside check programs such as Ontario’s Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere [RIDE] Program), as well as changing societal attitudes (Perreault 2016). In some jurisdictions, like British Columbia, impaired driving incidents that meet the elements of the Criminal Code may be handled using a provincial statute. Specifically, increases in impaired driving offences, and particularly drug-impaired driving offences, may be due in part to several contributing factors: greater legislative powers to conduct drug and alcohol screening tests, an increased number of police officers trained to detect impaired driving through standardized field sobriety tests, an increased number drug recognition experts leading to more confirmed instances of impairment, as well as increased use of oral fluid screening devices to detect drug impairment.

Police-reported youth crime

While overall crime statistics are based on the number of criminal incidents reported by police (regardless of whether or not an accused was identified), measures of police-reported youth crime are based on the number of youth, aged 12 to 17, accused in a criminal incident by police.^Note  The number of youth accused includes youth who were either charged, or recommended for charge, as well as those who were cleared by other means, including those diverted from the formal criminal justice system through the use of warnings, cautions, referrals to community programs and other diversion programs.

In 2019, there were about 77,200 youth accused of a criminal offence, over 3,400 fewer than in the previous year. The youth crime rate dropped 5% and has been on a long downward trend, declining for over two decades after peaking in 1991 (Table 14 and Table 15). Between 2009 and 2019, the rate of youth accused of crime fell 51% and the Youth CSI (YCSI) – which measures both the volume and severity of crime involving youth accused (charged and not charged) – fell 43% (Table 16; Chart 19).

Chart 19 start

Chart 19 end

The decline in the YCSI in 2019 was primarily the result of decreases in the rate of youth accused of breaking and entering (-18%), homicide (-35%) and possession of stolen property (-20%) (Table 14). Nine of the 13 provinces and territories experienced a decrease in the YCSI in 2019 (Table 17).

Similar to previous years, the most common criminal offences committed by youth in 2019 were level 1 assault (514 accused per 100,000 youth), shoplifting of $5,000 or under (423) and mischief (346) (Table 14). Rates of uttering threats and administration of justice violations, such as breach of probation and failure to appear, were also relatively high.

Summary

In 2019, all measures of the police-reported Crime Severity Index (CSI) – the overall CSI, the Violent CSI and the Non-violent CSI – increased for the fifth consecutive year. The change in the overall CSI in 2019 was the result of increases in police-reported rates of numerous offences, both violent and non-violent, most notably fraud (+8%) and child pornography (+46%), as well as uttering threats (+20%), mischief (+8%), sexual assault (level 1) (+7%), and shoplifting of $5,000 or under (+11%). A 1% decline in the rate of breaking and entering, among other offences, partially mitigated the impact of these increases on the CSI. An increase in importation or exportation under the Cannabis Act was partially mitigated by the expected and accompanying decrease in cannabis offences that previously existed under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

For many of the violations driving the CSI, including sexual assault (level 1), child pornography and uttering threats, the continued application of new clearance codes to classify offences may have had an impact on police-reported rates. Under the new reporting standards, specific offences may be more likely to be reported by police as founded rather than unfounded (or unsubstantiated), which would exclude them from police-reported crime rates and crime severity indices.

The national homicide rate increased 2% from 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population in 2018, to 1.80 homicides per 100,000 population in 2019. The number of firearm-related (+10) and gang-related (+6) homicides also increased in 2019.

Statistics Canada continuously works with data providers and stakeholders to ensure the data collected remain relevant and of high quality. Most recently, in July, 2020, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and Statistics Canada announced a commitment to enable police to report statistics on Indigenous and ethno-cultural minority groups in police-reported crime data on victims and accused persons (Statistics Canada 2020c). In 2020, discussions will be held with partners and stakeholders to inform this data collection and to identify ways of ensuring quality information.

Detailed data tables

Table 1 Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2018 and 2019

Table 2 Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded, selected offences, Canada, 2017 to 2019

Table 3 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, Canada, 2018 and 2019

Table 4 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, by province or territory, 2019

Table 5 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by province or territory, 2019

Table 6 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2009 to 2019

Table 7 Police-reported crime rate, Canada, 2009 to 2019

Table 8 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2019

Table 9 Police-reported crime rate, by province or territory, 2019

Table 10 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by census metropolitan area, 2019

Table 11 Violations contributing to the change in the Crime Severity Index, by census metropolitan area, 2018 and 2019

Table 12 Police-reported crime rate, by census metropolitan area, 2019

Table 13 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by census metropolitan area, 2019

Table 14 Police-reported youth crime for selected offences, Canada, 2018 and 2019

Table 15 Youth accused of police-reported crime, Canada, 2009 to 2019

Table 16 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2009 to 2019

Table 17 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2019

Key terminology and definitions

Incident (or Offence): A criminal incident involves one or more related offences that are committed during a single criminal event and have been reported to police. Where there are multiple victims within a single criminal event, a separate aggregate incident is counted for each victim. For example, a single incident involving an assault on three victims at the same time and location is counted in the aggregate statistics as three incidents of assault. For an incident to be counted in the crime statistics it must be recorded as “founded” as opposed to “unfounded.” Police services can report up to four violations for each incident, however, for both the traditional crime rate and the CSI are based on the most serious violation in the criminal incident. For the purposes of this article, offence and incident are used interchangeably.

Most serious violation: Individuals accused of crime are categorized by the most serious violation occurring in the police-reported incident in which they are accused. In incidents with multiple accused involving multiple violations, each individual in the incident will be coded with the most serious violation even if this was not the violation(s) that the person was accused of committing. It is therefore possible that the most serious violation is not the offence for which an individual was accused, but one committed by another accused in the incident. Moreover, in this type of incident, any charges against the accused may be for less serious offences in the incident.

Founded: An incident is “founded” if, after police investigation it has been determined that the reported offence did occur or was attempted (even if the charged/suspect chargeable (CSC) [i.e., the accused] is unknown) or there is no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not take place. This includes third-party reports that fit these criteria. For the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the concept of a CSC refers to a person against whom there is enough evidence for police to either lay a charge or recommend to the Crown that a charge be laid. Effective January 1, 2018.

Unfounded: An incident is “unfounded” if it has been determined through police investigation that the offence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted. Effective January 1, 2018.

Gang-related homicide: A homicide is classified as gang-related when police confirm or suspect that the accused person and/or victim involved in the homicide was either a member, or a prospective member, of an organized crime group or street gang or was somehow associated with an organized crime group or street gang, and the homicide was carried out as a result of this association. Prior to 2005, police were asked if the homicide was "gang-related". Beginning in 2005, the question was amended to give police the option of specifying whether the homicide was: (a) confirmed as gang-related or (b) suspected as being gang-related.

Firearm-related violent crime: Firearm-related violent crime shows the number of victims of violent Criminal Code offences where a firearm was fired or used as a threat, and/or where a firearm was present and not used but the presence of the firearm was relevant to the incident, according to the police.

Firearm-related homicide: A homicide is classified as firearm-related when the weapon used to cause death is a firearm. Firearms include handguns, rifles or shotguns, fully automatic firearms, firearm-like weapons (e.g. nail guns or pellet guns) and firearms - type unknown.

Violent offences: Involve the use or threat of violence against a person, including homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and robbery. Robbery is considered a violent offence because, unlike other theft offences, it involves the use or threat of violence. See Table 1 for a list of selected offences in this category.

Homicide: Includes first and second degree murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Deaths caused by criminal negligence, suicide and accidental or justifiable homicide are not included in this classification.

Assault (physical): Refers to the Criminal Code categories of physical assault.

• Common assault: Includes the Criminal Code category assault (level 1) which includes pushing, slapping, punching and face-to-face verbal threats.
• Major assault: Includes Criminal Code assault level 2 and 3:
  • Level 2–assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm: Involves carrying, using or threatening to use a weapon against a person or causing someone bodily harm.
  • Level 3–aggravated assault: Involves wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering the life of a person.
• Other assaults: Includes other forms of physical assault, including assault against a peace officer, unlawfully causing bodily harm, discharging a firearm with intent, using a firearm or an imitation of a firearm in commission of offence, pointing a firearm, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, trap likely to or causing bodily harm, and less common other assaults “of hoax terrorism causing bodily harm (Criminal Code s. 83),” “bodily harm resulting from failure to safeguard an opening in ice or on land (s. 263)” and “otherwise unlawfully causing bodily harm (s. 269).”

Sexual assault: Is classified by level in the Criminal Code into three separate categories—depending on the nature and severity of the incident—including level 1, assault of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim; level 2, sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm involves sexual assault with a weapon, threats to use a weapon or causing bodily harm; and level 3, aggravated sexual assault involves sexual assault that wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the victim.

Sexual violations against children: Include Criminal Code violations that specifically concern offences involving child and youth victims. These include sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, making sexually explicit material available to children for the purpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth, luring a child via telecommunications or the agreement/arrangement by means of telecommunication to commit a sexual offence against a child. As of December 2014, also includes the offences of parent or guardian procuring sexual activity (Criminal Code, s. 170) and householder permitting prohibited sexual activity (Criminal Code, s. 171). A “householder” is any “owner, occupier or manager of premises, or any other person who has control of premises or assists in the management or control of premises” (Criminal Code, s. 171). Incidents of child pornography are not included in the category of sexual violations against children. Excludes incidents of sexual assault level 1, 2 and 3 against children and youth which are counted within those three violation categories.

Other sexual offences: not involving sexual assault or sexual violations against children are included with “other violent offences.”

Non-violent offences: Include property offences and other Criminal Code offences, as well as Criminal Code traffic offences, drug-related offences and violations of other federal statutes.

Property offences: Involve unlawful acts to gain property, but do not involve the use or threat of violence against the person. They include offences such as break and enter, theft and mischief. See Table 1 for a list of selected offences in this category.

“Other” Criminal Code offences: Include crimes such as disturbing the peace and offences against the administration of justice (e.g., failure to comply with an order, failure to appear and breach of probation).

Drug-related offences: Include offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act such as possession, trafficking, production, importation and exportation of drugs or narcotics. Examples include cannabis (prior to the enactment of the Cannabis Act on October 17, 2018), cocaine, heroin and other drugs such as methamphetamine (crystal meth), PCP, LSD and ecstasy. Also includes cannabis-related offences under the Cannabis Act, and beginning in November 2017, violations specific to opioids (excluding heroin but including fentanyl).

Other federal statute violations: Include violations of federal statutes other than the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. These include violations of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Survey description

Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey was established in 1962 with the co-operation and assistance of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. The UCR was designed to measure criminal incidents that have been reported to federal, provincial/territorial and municipal police services in Canada.

One incident can involve multiple offences. In order to ensure comparability, counts presented in this article are based on the most serious offence in the incident as determined by a standard classification rule used by all police services. Counts based on all violations are available upon request.

Each year, the UCR database is “frozen” at the end of May for the production of crime statistics for the preceding calendar year. However, police services continue to send updated data to Statistics Canada after this date for incidents that occurred in previous years. Generally, these revisions constitute new accused records, as incidents are solved and accused persons are identified by police. Some new incidents, however, may be added and previously reported incidents may be deleted as new information becomes known.

Revisions are accepted for a one-year period after the data are initially released. For example, when the 2019 crime statistics are released, the 2018 data are updated with any revisions that have been made between May 2019 and July 2020. The data are revised only once and are then permanently frozen. Over the past 15 years (2004 to 2019), data corresponding to previous years have been revised upward 12 times and revised downward 3 times, with an average annual revision of 0.28%. The 2018 revision to counts of persons charged and youth not charged resulted in a 0.8% increase to 2018 counts.

Measuring incidents of crime

Data from the UCR are used to calculate both the traditional crime rate and the Crime Severity Index (CSI). The traditional crime rate and the CSI are based on the aggregate count of criminal incidents. A criminal incident involves one or more related offences that are committed during a single criminal event and have been reported to police. Where there are multiple victims within a single criminal event, a separate aggregate incident is counted for each victim. For example, a single incident involving an assault on three victims at the same time and location is counted in the aggregate statistics as three incidents of assault. For an incident to be counted in the crime statistics it must be recorded as “founded” as opposed to “unfounded.” An incident is “founded” if, after police investigation it has been determined that the reported offence did occur or was attempted or there is no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not take place. This includes third-party reports that fit these criteria.

Police services can report up to four violations for each incident; however, this has typically only been the practice since the late 1980s and not for all police services. Therefore, both the traditional crime rate and the CSI are based on the most serious violation in the criminal incident. By basing the measures on the most serious offence in an incident, it allows for historical comparisons, as well as better comparisons among police services.

It is possible, however, that by counting only the most serious violation, some offences may be under-represented. This has little or no effect on serious violent offences such as homicide, sexual assault and aggravated assault; however, some—but not all—minor offences are less likely to be the most serious violation when they are occurring at the same time as other more serious violations. These secondary offences, therefore, are not included in the calculation of aggregate statistics, the crime rate and the CSI.

For more information on counting crime in Canada, see Measuring Crime in Canada: Introducing the Crime Severity Index and Improvements to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (Wallace et al. 2009), The Methodology of the Police-reported Crime Severity Index (Babyak et al. 2009), and Updating the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights (Cormack and Tabuchi 2020).

Estimating the impact of changes to reporting standards

In January 2018, the definition of both “founded” and “unfounded” criminal incidents was updated to reflect a more victim-centred approach to recording crimes that accounts for the complexities of certain offences such as sexual assault, family violence and intimate partner violence. Estimates of what the crime rate could have been in 2018 and 2019 had the new reporting standards not been in place were calculated for specific violations. These included violations that were most responsible for the increase in the national CSI. In 2018, the estimated values were determined by evaluating the following factors: incidents that could have previously been deemed unsubstantiated and therefore not reported to the CCJCSS; proportions of unfounded, not cleared, and cleared using the previous reporting standards; and the observed trend between 2015 and 2017 for unfounded, not cleared, and cleared incidents. As 2019 marks the first complete year since the introduction of the new reporting standards, the estimated values were determined by estimating the number of incidents that could have been previously deemed unsubstantiated and the observed trend between 2015 and 2017 for unfounded, not cleared, and cleared incidents.

Furthermore, for specific violations and police services, the actual proportion of incidents in 2019 that were classified as “not cleared” has increased due to adoption of the new reporting standards and the first complete year of data under the new standards.

Homicide Survey

The Homicide Survey collects police-reported data on the characteristics of all homicide incidents, victims and accused persons in Canada. The Homicide Survey began collecting information on all murders in 1961 and was expanded in 1974 to include all incidents of manslaughter and infanticide. Although details on these incidents are not available prior to 1974, counts are available from the UCR and are included in the historical aggregate totals.

Due to revisions to the Homicide Survey database, annual data reported by the Homicide Survey prior to 2015 may not match the annual homicide counts reported by the UCR. Data from the Homicide Survey are appended to the UCR database each year for the reporting of annual police reported crime statistics. Each reporting year, the UCR includes revised data reported by police for the previous survey year. In 2015, a review of data quality was undertaken for the Homicide Survey for all survey years from 1961 to 2014. The review included the collection of incident, victim and charged/suspect-chargeable records that were previously unreported to the Homicide Survey. In addition, the database excludes deaths, and associated accused records, which were no longer deemed as homicide by police (e.g., incidents of self-defence, suicide and criminal negligence causing death that had originally been deemed, but no longer considered, homicide). For operational reasons, these revisions were not applied to the UCR.

The 2019 Homicide Survey has undergone a redesign to improve data quality and enhance relevance. Changes were made to existing questions and additional questions have been added for the 2019 reporting period.

References

Arriagada, P., T. Hahmann, and V. O’Donnell. 2020. “StatCan COVID-19: Data to insights for a better Canada Indigenous people in urban areas: Vulnerabilities to the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.” StatCan COVID-19: Data to insights for a better Canada. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 45-28-0001.

Babyak, C., Alavi, A., Collins, K., Halladay, A. and D. Tapper. 2009. The Methodology of the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. HSMD-2009-006E/F.

Babyak, C., Campbell, A., Evra, R. and S. Franklin. 2013. Updating the Police-reported Crime Severity Index Weights: Refinements to the Methodology. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. HSMD-2013-005E/F.

Bombay, A., K., Matheson, K., and H., Anisman. 2009. “Intergenerational trauma: Convergence of multiple processes among First Nations peoples in Canada.” Journal of Aboriginal Health. p. 6-47.

Bombay, A., K., Matheson, K., and H., Anisman. 2011. “The impact of stressors on second generation Indian residential school survivors.” Transcultural Psychiatry. 48(4), 367-391.

Bombay, A., K., Matheson, K., and H., Anisman. 2014. “The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools:  Implication for the concept of historical trauma.” Transcultural Psychiatry. 51(3), 320-338.

Boyce, J. 2016. “Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Breen, K. 2018. “Another 16 call centres linked to CRA scam busted in India: Royal Canadian Mounted Police.” Global News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Brewer, R., Cale, J., Goldsmith, A. and T. Holt. 2018. “Young people, the Internet, and emerging pathways into criminality: A study of Australian adolescents.” International Journal of Cyber Criminology. Vol. 12, no. 1. p. 115-132.

Britt, C. L. 2019. Age and Crime. In Farrington, D. P., Kazemian, L., and A. R. Piquero (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of developmental and life-course criminology. (p. 13-33). New York, New York: Oxford University Press.

Burczycka, M. 2017. "Profile of Canadian adults who experienced childhood maltreatment.” In Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2015. Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Burczycka, M. 2019. “Police reported intimate partner violence in Canada, 2018.” In Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2018. Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC). 2020. Canadian Anti-fraud Centre. Government of Canada. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. 2020. “Findings and recommendations report: Decriminalization for Simple Possession of Illicit Drugs: Exploring Impacts on Public Safety and Policing.” Special Purpose Committee on the Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs. (accessed on August 9, 2020)

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. 2018. “Revising the classification of founded and unfounded criminal incidents in the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2018.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

CBC News. 2019. “Thefts at LCBO stores on the rise in Ottawa.” CBC News. (accessed on July 5, 2020).

Child Rescue Coalition. 2020. Child Rescue Coalition: Our work. Child Rescue Coalition. (accessed July 31, 2020).

Common, D. and N. Vellani. 2018. “'They're nothing but financial terrorists': 60,000 Canadians have complained about the CRA phone scam.” CBC News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Conor, P., J. Robson, and S. Marcellus. 2019. “Police resources in Canada, 2018.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Conroy, S. and A. Cotter. 2017. “Self-reported sexual assault in Canada, 2014.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Cormack, A. and T. Tabuchi. 2020. Updating the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights. Working paper. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. SSMD-2020-01E/F.

Cotter, A. 2020. “Trafficking in persons, 2018.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Cotter, A. and L. Savage. 2019. “Gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour in Canada, 2018: Initial findings from the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X

Crawford, B. 2019. “Ottawa woman swears off gift cards after simple scam drains cash.” Ottawa Citizen. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Department of Justice Canada. 2015. A handbook for criminal justice practitioners on trafficking in persons.

Dhillon, S. 2012. “Police grapple with how to handle threats online.” The Globe and Mail. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Froese, I. 2019. “Winnipeg homicide record broken with 42^nd killing in a year.” CBC News. (accessed on July 5, 2020).

Graveland, B. 2018. “‘It’s an epidemic:’ Inexpensive crystal meth eclipsing opioids on the Prairies.” The Canadian Press. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Greenland, J. and Cotter, A. 2018. “Unfounded criminal incidents in Canada, 2017.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Ha, O. K. and M. A. Andresen. 2017. “Unemployment and the specialization of criminal activity: A neighborhood analysis.” Journal of Criminal Justice. Vol. 48. p. 1-8.

House of Commons. 2018. “Indigenous people in the federal correctional system.” Report of the standing committee on public safety and national security. 42^nd Parliament, 1^st session (June 2018).

Hoye, B. 2019. “‘Sucked back into that cycle’: Curbing meth-fuelled crime requires treatment, but options limited.” CBC News, Manitoba.

Huncar, A. 2018. “Edmonton police chief set to tackle city's growing meth problem.” CBC News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Huncar, A. 2020. “Meth supply, organized crime focus of Pan-Canadian group tackling rural crime.” CBC News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Ireland, N. 2020. “Caught in a crisis.” CBC News Interactives. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Janko, Z. and G. Popli. 2015. “Examining the link between crime and unemployment: A time-series analysis for Canada.” Applied Economics. Vol. 47, no. 37. p. 4007-4019.

Landreville, T. 2020. “RCMP reports spike in fraud reports.” My Powell River Now (accessed July 5, 2020).

Loeber, R., Farrington, D. P., Hipwell, A. E., Stepp, S. D, Pardini. D. and L. Ahonen. 2015. “Constancy and change in the prevalence and frequency of offending when based on longitudinal self-reports or official records: Comparisons by gender, race and crime type.” Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology. Vol. 1, no. 2. p. 150-168.

McGovern, A. 2015. “Crime, media and new technologies.” Current Issues in Criminal Justice. Vol. 27, no. 2. p. 137-140.

Milivelojevic, S. and E. M. Radulski. 2020. “The ‘future Internet’ and crime: Towards a criminology of the Internet of Things.” Current Issues in Criminal Justice. Vol. 32, no. 2. p. 193-207.

Mitchell, L. 2019. “Epidemic of shoplifting: Liquor store thefts on rise.” CTV Edmonton. (accessed July 5, 2020).

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). 2019. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (accessed October 10, 2019).

Moreau, G. 2019a. "Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2018." Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Moreau, G. 2019b. "Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2018." Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Ontario Human Rights Commission. 2003. “The impact of racial profiling on the Aboriginal community.” In Paying the price: The human cost of racial profiling. Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Ouimet, M. 2004. “Explaining the American and Canadian crime ‘drop’ in the 1990’s.” Penal Field. Vol. 1.

Owusu-Bempah, A. 2014. “Cannabis impaired driving: An evaluation of current modes of detection.” Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Vol. 56, no. 2. p. 219-240.

Parliament of Canada. 2018. Bill C-45: An Act Respecting Cannabis and to Amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts. 42^nd Parliament, 1^st session. Library of Parliament. Canada.

Perreault, S. 2015. “Criminal victimization in Canada, 2014.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Perreault, S. 2016. “Impaired driving in Canada, 2015.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Perreault, S. 2019. “Police-reported crime in rural and urban areas in the Canadian provinces, 2017.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Perreault, S. and L. Simpson. 2016. “Criminal victimization in the Territories, 2014.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Perrin, B. 2018. Social media threats: examining the Canadian law response. Canadian Journal of Law and Technology.

Potter, M. and P. Winsa. 2019. “LCBO thefts have spiralled and now make up nearly half of all shoplifting from Toronto’s most-hit retailers.” Toronto Star. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Public Safety Canada. 2019a. “Public Safety Canada announces expansion of National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet.” Government of Canada. (accessed June 29, 2020).

Public Safety Canada. 2019b. National strategy to combat human trafficking 2019-2024. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Rotenberg, C. 2017a. “Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada, 2009 to 2014: A statistical profile.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Rotenberg, C. 2017b. “From arrest to conviction: Court outcomes of police-reported sexual assaults in Canada, 2009 to 2014.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Rotenberg, C. and A. Cotter. 2018. “Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada before and after #MeToo, 2016 and 2017.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X.

Roterman, M. 2020. “What has changed since cannabis was legalized?” Health Reports. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 82-003-X.

Selley, C. 2019. “When you steal from the LCBO, you steal from everyone.” National Post. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Sommerfeld, L. 2018. “The top 10 most stolen cars in Canada in 2018.” Driving. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses. 2020. “Opioid-related Harms in Canada.” Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada; June 2020.

Statistics Canada. 2016. Measuring crime in Canada: A Detailed Look at the Crime Severity Index. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-629-X.

Statistics Canada. 2017. Study: A Look at Immigration, Ethnocultural Diversity and Languages in Canada up to 2036, 2011 to 2036. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 91-551-X, Ottawa.

Statistics Canada. 2018. “Illicit drug overdose deaths, 2011 to 2016, British Columbia and Surrey.” Juristat Bulletin – Quick Fact. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-005-X.

Statistics Canada. 2020a. “Police-reported crime incidents down during the early months of the pandemic, while domestic disturbance calls increase.” The Daily. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-X.

Statistics Canada. 2020b. “First Nations people, Métis and Inuit and COVID-19: Health and social characteristics.” The Daily. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-X.

Statistics Canada. 2020c. “Collection of data on Indigenous and ethno-cultural groups in Canada’s official police-reported crime statistics.” Statistical Announcements.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015. Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Turner, J. 2019. “Plagued by shoplifting, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries using courts to make offenders pay.” CBC News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Unger, D. 2019. “’Just barely holding it together’: police chief calls for more action in midst of homicide spike and meth crisis.” CTV News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 2018. The international legal definition of trafficking in persons: Consolidation of research findings and reflections on issues raised.

Vanraes, 2019. “Meat theft: The strange new crime trend taking over Winnipeg grocery stores.” Maclean’s. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Wakefield, J. 2019. “Let’s get on it – More crystal meth.” Edmonton Sun. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Wallace, M., Turner, J., Babyak, C. and A. Matarazzo. 2009. Measuring Crime in Canada: Introducing the Crime Severity Index and Improvements to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-004-X.

Whan, C. 2018. “Ottawa police issue warning about prepaid gift card scam.” Global News. (accessed July 5, 2020).

Wilson, S. 2018. “Assessing the impact of economic and demographic change on property crime rates in Western Canada.” Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being. Vol. 3, no. 2. p. 52-58.