Table 2
Police-reported sexual assault and other selected types of violent crime, by detailed incident clearance status, Canada, 2017 to 2022


Table 2
Police-reported sexual assault and other selected types of violent crime, by detailed incident clearance status, Canada, 2017 to 2022
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported sexual assault and other selected types of violent crime. The information is grouped by Detailed incident clearance status (appearing as row headers), 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Detailed incident clearance status 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent
Sexual assault
Not cleared 10,728 48 12,915 50 15,273 54 13,949 53 17,158 55 19,652 59
Not clearedTable 2 Note 1 10,204 45 7,474 29 2,023 7 613 2 307 1 320 1
Open, still under investigation 97 0 529 2 1,418 5 1,379 5 1,788 6 3,315 10
Insufficient evidence to proceed 360 2 3,793 15 8,279 29 7,887 30 9,219 29 10,028 30
Victim or complainant declined to proceed (no accused identified) 67 0 1,119 4 3,553 12 4,070 15 5,844 19 5,989 18
Cleared by charge 7,721 34 9,277 36 9,972 35 9,824 37 11,076 35 10,190 31
Cleared by charge 7,637 34 8,479 33 8,527 30 8,187 31 9,207 29 8,996 27
Charges recommended but declined by the Crown 84 0 798 3 1,445 5 1,637 6 1,869 6 1,194 4
Cleared otherwise 4,094 18 3,656 14 3,300 12 2,762 10 3,226 10 3,451 10
Suicide of accused 9 0 9 0 15 0 19 0 21 0 25 0
Death of accused 60 0 49 0 58 0 56 0 72 0 56 0
Death of complainant or witness 4 0 12 0 6 0 5 0 12 0 11 0
Reason beyond departmental control 988 4 559 2 151 1 105 0 109 0 61 0
Diplomatic immunity 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accused under the age of 12 254 1 233 1 255 1 240 1 324 1 310 1
Accused committed to a mental health facility 7 0 11 0 4 0 6 0 0 0 6 0
Accused outside of Canada, cannot be returned 1 0 6 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Victim or complainant requested that no further action be taken (accused identified) 1,674 7 1,786 7 1,869 7 1,662 6 1,833 6 2,071 6
Accused involved in other incidents 45 0 42 0 53 0 55 0 70 0 55 0
Accused already sentenced 4 0 16 0 4 0 9 0 8 0 4 0
Departmental discretion 898 4 763 3 692 2 446 2 549 2 632 2
Diversionary program 73 0 95 0 93 0 92 0 132 0 96 0
Incident cleared by a lesser statute 5 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 3 0
Incident cleared by other municipal, provincial or federal agency 72 0 72 0 93 0 65 0 94 0 116 0
Total 22,543 100 25,848 100 28,545 100 26,535 100 31,460 100 33,293 100
Physical assault
Not cleared 47,342 25 53,525 27 73,433 33 73,741 34 82,389 36 91,959 38
Not clearedTable 2 Note 1 46,892 25 40,588 20 10,104 5 3,277 2 1,328 1 1,520 1
Open, still under investigation 135 0 1,451 1 4,035 2 2,998 1 4,251 2 6,997 3
Insufficient evidence to proceed 277 0 8,686 4 42,934 19 47,895 22 52,581 23 56,817 23
Victim or complainant declined to proceed (no accused identified) 38 0 2,800 1 16,360 7 19,571 9 24,229 11 26,625 11
Cleared by charge 95,472 50 99,421 50 106,433 48 105,199 48 106,991 47 110,983 46
Cleared by charge 95,391 50 96,572 49 95,474 43 93,117 43 93,363 41 97,820 40
Charges recommended but declined by the Crown 81 0 2,849 1 10,959 5 12,082 6 13,628 6 13,163 5
Cleared otherwise 47,786 25 45,676 23 40,644 18 38,275 18 38,441 17 39,585 16
Suicide of accused 13 0 19 0 26 0 45 0 36 0 38 0
Death of accused 62 0 70 0 70 0 104 0 114 0 84 0
Death of complainant or witness 13 0 18 0 34 0 35 0 40 0 33 0
Reason beyond departmental control 7,721 4 5,868 3 645 0 439 0 211 0 207 0
Diplomatic immunity 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Accused under the age of 12 1,179 1 1,080 1 1,215 1 822 0 983 0 941 0
Accused committed to a mental health facility 79 0 73 0 116 0 114 0 98 0 86 0
Accused outside of Canada, cannot be returned 6 0 5 0 8 0 1 0 6 0 0 0
Victim or complainant requested that no further action be taken (accused identified) 25,792 14 25,902 13 26,135 12 25,791 12 25,686 11 26,284 11
Accused involved in other incidents 305 0 331 0 401 0 379 0 461 0 413 0
Accused already sentenced 36 0 58 0 48 0 45 0 46 0 20 0
Departmental discretion 11,019 6 10,546 5 9,887 4 8,807 4 8,888 4 9,677 4
Diversionary program 1,326 1 1,452 1 1,757 1 1,391 1 1,520 1 1,471 1
Incident cleared by a lesser statute 119 0 142 0 174 0 158 0 191 0 192 0
Incident cleared by other municipal, provincial or federal agency 115 0 111 0 126 0 144 0 161 0 138 0
Total 190,600 100 198,622 100 220,510 100 217,215 100 227,821 100 242,527 100
Criminal harassment
Not cleared 4,978 28 5,581 32 8,583 41 9,492 43 10,769 44 11,385 46
Not clearedTable 2 Note 1 4,894 27 3,994 23 1,255 6 609 3 392 2 363 1
Open, still under investigation 18 0 214 1 524 3 484 2 658 3 917 4
Insufficient evidence to proceed 59 0 1,127 6 5,973 29 7,168 32 8,135 33 8,571 34
Victim or complainant declined to proceed (no accused identified) 7 0 246 1 831 4 1,231 6 1,584 6 1,534 6
Cleared by charge 6,926 39 7,041 40 8,133 39 8,458 38 9,413 38 9,333 37
Cleared by charge 6,914 39 6,778 39 7,236 35 7,566 34 8,256 34 8,333 33
Charges recommended but declined by the Crown 12 0 263 1 897 4 892 4 1,157 5 1,000 4
Cleared otherwise 5,932 33 4,981 28 4,097 20 4,110 19 4,425 18 4,184 17
Suicide of accused 4 0 2 0 4 0 7 0 2 0 5 0
Death of accused 5 0 6 0 4 0 12 0 8 0 11 0
Death of complainant or witness 1 0 2 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 1 0
Reason beyond departmental control 767 4 543 3 68 0 60 0 12 0 21 0
Diplomatic immunity 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Accused under the age of 12 38 0 28 0 27 0 16 0 22 0 32 0
Accused committed to a mental health facility 4 0 5 0 9 0 5 0 7 0 6 0
Accused outside of Canada, cannot be returned 3 0 6 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 5 0
Victim or complainant requested that no further action be taken (accused identified) 2,102 12 1,947 11 1,834 9 1,741 8 1,884 8 1,813 7
Accused involved in other incidents 100 1 94 1 95 0 128 1 151 1 110 0
Accused already sentenced 5 0 6 0 4 0 6 0 3 0 2 0
Departmental discretion 2,751 15 2,190 12 1,885 9 1,988 9 2,174 9 2,025 8
Diversionary program 120 1 123 1 133 1 119 1 109 0 116 0
Incident cleared by a lesser statute 8 0 5 0 5 0 7 0 11 0 11 0
Incident cleared by other municipal, provincial or federal agency 23 0 23 0 21 0 13 0 33 0 25 0
Total 17,836 100 17,603 100 20,813 100 22,060 100 24,607 100 24,902 100
Indecent or harassing communications
Not cleared 10,778 69 12,075 72 17,320 79 19,934 81 21,092 81 20,779 82
Not clearedTable 2 Note 1 10,716 69 9,889 59 871 4 243 1 47 0 43 0
Open, still under investigation 9 0 143 1 592 3 406 2 507 2 895 4
Insufficient evidence to proceed 51 0 1,776 11 14,160 64 17,274 70 18,173 69 17,589 70
Victim or complainant declined to proceed (no accused identified) 2 0 267 2 1,697 8 2,011 8 2,365 9 2,252 9
Cleared by charge 699 5 773 5 982 4 1,091 4 1,258 5 1,143 5
Cleared by charge 698 4 745 4 885 4 975 4 1,157 4 1,041 4
Charges recommended but declined by the Crown 1 0 28 0 97 0 116 0 101 0 102 0
Cleared otherwise 4,035 26 3,880 23 3,689 17 3,651 15 3,817 15 3,296 13
Suicide of accused 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 0
Death of accused 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0
Death of complainant or witness 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Reason beyond departmental control 96 1 56 0 18 0 12 0 9 0 12 0
Diplomatic immunity 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accused under the age of 12 24 0 32 0 22 0 23 0 26 0 12 0
Accused committed to a mental health facility 5 0 3 0 9 0 2 0 4 0 2 0
Accused outside of Canada, cannot be returned 4 0 5 0 9 0 8 0 5 0 8 0
Victim or complainant requested that no further action be taken (accused identified) 1,675 11 1,643 10 1,486 7 1,544 6 1,581 6 1,412 6
Accused involved in other incidents 53 0 76 0 70 0 74 0 105 0 99 0
Accused already sentenced 3 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 1 0
Departmental discretion 2,141 14 2,023 12 2,019 9 1,940 8 2,027 8 1,706 7
Diversionary program 19 0 21 0 37 0 29 0 24 0 25 0
Incident cleared by a lesser statute 1 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 13 0 6 0
Incident cleared by other municipal, provincial or federal agency 12 0 11 0 11 0 9 0 17 0 9 0
Total 15,512 100 16,728 100 21,991 100 24,676 100 26,167 100 25,218 100
Total violent crime
Not cleared 110,800 32 127,190 35 173,282 41 179,713 43 199,723 45 219,221 47
Not clearedTable 2 Note 1 109,116 31 93,694 25 21,966 5 8,066 2 3,526 1 3,537 1
Open, still under investigation 367 0 3,900 1 11,192 3 9,083 2 12,300 3 20,680 4
Insufficient evidence to proceed 1,149 0 23,573 6 109,985 26 125,620 30 137,315 31 145,399 31
Victim or complainant declined to proceed (no accused identified) 168 0 6,023 2 30,139 7 36,944 9 46,582 10 49,605 11
Cleared by charge 155,678 44 162,605 44 174,581 42 171,748 41 176,398 40 178,931 38
Cleared by charge 155,444 44 157,422 43 157,486 38 153,125 37 155,273 35 159,723 34
Charges recommended but declined by the Crown 234 0 5,183 1 17,095 4 18,623 4 21,125 5 19,208 4
Cleared otherwise 83,561 24 78,437 21 70,478 17 67,349 16 68,882 15 68,489 15
Suicide of accused 68 0 83 0 116 0 133 0 125 0 139 0
Death of accused 169 0 202 0 230 0 304 0 311 0 266 0
Death of complainant or witness 23 0 41 0 57 0 53 0 67 0 56 0
Reason beyond departmental control 12,354 4 9,004 2 1,101 0 825 0 433 0 410 0
Diplomatic immunity 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 4 0
Accused under the age of 12 2,032 1 1,941 1 2,178 1 1,553 0 1,925 0 1,839 0
Accused committed to a mental health facility 154 0 139 0 208 0 221 0 176 0 153 0
Accused outside of Canada, cannot be returned 47 0 66 0 76 0 84 0 56 0 53 0
Victim or complainant requested that no further action be taken (accused identified) 41,442 12 41,431 11 41,450 10 41,463 10 41,866 9 41,641 9
Accused involved in other incidents 1,031 0 798 0 903 0 1,013 0 1,155 0 993 0
Accused already sentenced 73 0 119 0 88 0 90 0 78 0 44 0
Departmental discretion 23,178 7 21,384 6 20,324 5 18,524 4 19,165 4 19,649 4
Diversionary program 2,440 1 2,648 1 3,035 1 2,438 1 2,758 1 2,472 1
Incident cleared by a lesser statute 176 0 203 0 251 0 225 0 304 0 289 0
Incident cleared by other municipal, provincial or federal agency 372 0 376 0 458 0 422 0 462 0 481 0
Total 350,039 100 368,232 100 418,341 100 418,810 100 445,003 100 466,641 100
0 true zero or a value rounded to zero
Note 1

Unsolved incidents were previously classified simply as “not cleared.” In 2018, more detailed options were added to better reflect the reasons why incidents may remain uncleared.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note: Offences reflect the most serious violation in the incident. Sexual assault includes level 1, 2 and 3 sexual assault, and physical assault includes level 1, 2 and 3 assault. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Trend Database.
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