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Table 5
Homicides, by closest accused to victim relationship and gender, Canada, 2021

Table 5
Homicides, by closest accused to victim relationship and gender, Canada, 2021
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, 2021, Average 2011 to 2020, Female victims and Male victims, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Relationship type^{Table 5 Note 1} (victim killed by)	Closest accused to victim relationship
	2021				Average 2011 to 2020
	Women		Men		Women		Men
	number	percent^{Table 5 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 5 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 5 Note 2}	number	percent^{Table 5 Note 2}
Family relationship	93	60.4	61	18.4	87	58.5	63	19.9
Spousal relationship^{Table 5 Note 3}	50	32.5	12	3.6	50	33.9	10	3.3
Other family relationship^{Table 5 Note 4}	43	27.9	49	14.8	37	24.6	52	16.7
Intimate relationship (non-spousal)^{Table 5 Note 5}	18	11.7	10	3.0	18	12.0	6	1.9
Acquaintance^{Table 5 Note 6}	27	17.5	168	50.8	27	18.2	144	46.0
Criminal relationship^{Table 5 Note 7}	3	1.9	31	9.4	5	3.2	37	11.8
Stranger	13	8.4	61	18.4	12	8.0	64	20.3
Unknown relationship	4	Note ...: not applicable	34	Note ...: not applicable	2	Note ...: not applicable	14	Note ...: not applicable
Total solved homicides^{Table 5 Note 8}	158	100.0	365	100.0	150	100.0	328	100.0
Unsolved homicides	39	Note ...: not applicable	221	Note ...: not applicable	15	Note ...: not applicable	126	Note ...: not applicable
Total homicides^{Table 5 Note 9}	197	Note ...: not applicable	586	Note ...: not applicable	165	Note ...: not applicable	453	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. The year 2019 marked the first cycle of collection of the Homicide Survey data for which information on gender identity was reported for victims and persons accused of homicide. Gender refers to the gender a person publicly expresses in their daily life, including at work, while shopping or accessing other services, in their housing environment or in the broader community. Prior to 2019, Homicide Survey data was presented by the sex of the victims and accused persons. Sex and gender refer to two different concepts. Caution should be exercised when comparing counts for sex with those for gender. Given that small counts of victims and accused persons reported or were identified as being non-binary, the aggregate Homicide Survey data available to the public has been recoded to distribute these counts to either "men" or "women" in order to ensure the protection of confidentiality and privacy. Victims and accused persons who reported or were identified as being non-binary have been distributed to either men or women categories based on the regional distribution of victims’ or accused persons’ gender. The total count of a given year's number of homicides could include incidents that occurred in previous years. Homicides are allotted to the year in which they become known to or are deemed homicides by police, according to the report date submitted to Statistics Canada. Percentages may not add up due to rounding. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Homicide Survey.

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Date modified:: 2022-11-21