Table 3
Victims of homicide, by gender-related criterion and incident characteristic, Canada, 2011 to 2021


Table 3
Victims of homicide, by gender-related criterion and incident characteristic, Canada, 2011 to 2021
Table summary
This table displays the results of Victims of homicide. The information is grouped by Incident characteristic (appearing as row headers), Gender-related homicide of women and girls and Non-gender-related homicides, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Incident characteristic Gender-related homicides of women and girlsTable 3 Note 1 Non-gender-related homicides
number percent number percent
Victim gender
Women and girls 1,125 100 720 12
Men and boys Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 5,104 88
Total 1,125 100 5,824 100
Incident location
Residential locationTable 3 Note 2 978 87 3,249 56
Open areaTable 3 Note 3 102 9 1,824 32
OtherTable 3 Note 4 41 4 689 12
Unknown 4 Note ...: not applicable 62 Note ...: not applicable
Total 1,125 100 5,824 100
Primary method to cause death
Shooting 246 23 2,121 38
Stabbing 370 34 1,849 33
Beating or blows 223 21 1,068 19
Strangulation, suffocation, drowning 183 17 222 4
OtherTable 3 Note 5 63 6 379 7
Unknown 40 Note ...: not applicable 185 Note ...: not applicable
Total 1,125 100 5,824 100
Apparent motives
No apparent motive 100 10 540 11
Argument or quarrel 308 30 1,691 34
Financial gain or settling of accounts or debts 32 3 1,106 22
Jealousy or envy 148 14 163 3
Frustration, anger, despair 331 32 593 12
Revenge 26 2 326 7
Other motivesTable 3 Note 6 96 9 534 11
Unknown 84 Note ...: not applicable 871 Note ...: not applicable
Total 1,125 100 5,824 100
... not applicable
Note 1

Gender-related homicides of women and girls are solved homicides committed by a male accused who was an intimate partner or family member of the victim, inflicted sexual violence on the victim as part of the killing or killed a victim who was identified as a sex worker. Non-gender-related homicides are all those that do not contain the above qualifiers.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Includes single homes, dwelling units (e.g., apartment units, condo units), commercial dwelling units (e.g. hotel rooms), nursing homes, retirement homes and community group homes.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Includes parking lots, streets, roads, highways and other open areas (e.g., playgrounds, parks, fields), transit buses and bus shelters, subways and subway stations, and other forms of public transportation and connected facilities.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note 4

Includes commercial properties and other corporate places (e.g., banks, bars, restaurants, car dealerships, convenience stores, gas stations, pharmacies), schools (including universities and colleges) during supervised and unsupervised activities, non-commercial locations (e.g., government buildings, community centres, halfway houses, homeless shelters or missions), private property structures (e.g., sheds, detached garages, fishing boats) and other locations (e.g., religious institutions, hospitals, correctional institutions, construction sites, privately owned vehicles, taxis, limousines).

Return to note 4 referrer

Note 5

Includes drug overdoses, poisoning or lethal injections, smoke inhalation or burns, exposure or hypothermia, abusive head traumas (previously referred to as shaken baby syndrome), motor vehicle impacts or collisions, neglect or failure to support life and other methods.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note 6

Includes hate crime, terrorism or security threat, illegal drug trade activities, concealment of a child, intent to conceal information or actions, assisting a suicide, euthanasia, sexual motivations, custody disputes, fear of apprehension, personal protection, honour based and types of motives not otherwise classified.

Return to note 6 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. Excludes victims and accused where gender was coded as unknown. 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. Percent calculations exclude unknown locations, methods and motives. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Homicide Survey.
Date modified: