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Table 9
Homicides, by closest accused to victim relationship and gender, Canada, 2020

Table 9
Homicides, by closest accused to victim relationship and gender, Canada, 2020
Table summary
This table displays the results of Homicides. The information is grouped by Relationship type (victim killed by) (appearing as row headers), Closest accused to victim relationship, 2020, Average 2010 to 2019, Male victims and Female victims, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Relationship type^{Table 9 Note 1} (victim killed by)	Closest accused to victim relationship
	2020				Average 2010 to 2019
	Male victims		Female victims		Male victims		Female victims
	number	percent^{Table 9 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 9 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 9 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 9 Note 2}
Family relationship	74	22.3	71	50.4	61	19.9	87	59.6
Spousal relationship^{Table 9 Note 3}	12	3.6	36	25.5	11	3.6	51	34.9
Other family relationship^{Table 9 Note 4}	62	18.7	35	24.8	50	16.3	36	24.7
Intimate relationship (non-spousal)^{Table 9 Note 5}	8	2.4	17	12.1	6	2.0	17	11.6
Acquaintance^{Table 9 Note 6}	149	44.9	31	22.0	140	45.6	27	18.5
Criminal relationship^{Table 9 Note 7}	31	9.3	6	4.3	37	12.1	5	3.4
Stranger	70	21.1	16	11.3	63	20.5	11	7.5
Unknown relationship	39	Note ...: not applicable	3	Note ...: not applicable	11	Note ...: not applicable	2	Note ...: not applicable
Total solved homicides^{Table 9 Note 8}	371	100.0	144	100.0	318	100.0	148	100.0
Unsolved homicides	197	Note ...: not applicable	27	Note ...: not applicable	118	Note ...: not applicable	15	Note ...: not applicable
Total homicides^{Table 9 Note 9}	568	Note ...: not applicable	171	Note ...: not applicable	435	Note ...: not applicable	163	Note ...: not applicable
... not applicable Note 1 Includes homicides with a known accused. If there were more than one accused, only the closest relationship to the victim was recorded. Return to note 1 referrer Note 2 Solved homicides where the type of relationship was unknown are excluded from the calculation of percentages. Return to note 2 referrer Note 3 Includes legal husband/wife, common-law husband/wife, separated or divorced husband/wife, separated common-law husband/wife and same-sex spouse. Return to note 3 referrer Note 4 Includes father, mother, son, daughter, sibling, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws, etc., related by blood, marriage (including common-law) or adoption. Return to note 4 referrer Note 5 Includes boyfriend, girlfriend, same sex relationship, extra-marital lover, ex-boyfriend / girlfriend and other intimate relationship. Return to note 5 referrer Note 6 Includes close friend, neighbour, authority or reverse authority figure, business relationship and casual acquaintance. Return to note 6 referrer Note 7 Includes, for example, drug dealers, and their clients, loan sharks, or gang members. When more than one relationship applies (e.g., criminal relationship and close friend), police are asked to report the primary relationship. Return to note 7 referrer Note 8 Includes homicides with a known accused. Return to note 8 referrer Note 9 Total homicides excludes homicides where the gender of the victim was reported as unknown. Return to note 9 referrer Note: There may be a small number of homicides included in a given year's total that occurred in previous years. Homicides are counted according to the year in which they are reported to Statistics Canada. Percentages may not add up due to rounding. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Homicide Survey.

Date modified:: 2021-11-25