Table 5
Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported physical assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019

Table 5
Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported physical assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019 Table summary
This table displays the results of Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported physical assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019. The information is grouped by Selected characteristic (appearing as row headers), 2015 to 20191, Sentenced to custody, 2010 to 20141, Guilty decision and Completed court cases, calculated using median length4, number, percent and percent3 units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Selected characteristic Table 5 Note 2 2010 to 2014 Table 5 Note 1 2015 to 2019 Table 5 Note 1
Completed court cases Guilty decision Sentenced to custody Completed court cases Guilty decision Sentenced to custody
number number percent number percent Table 5 Note 3 median length Table 5 Note 4 number number percent number percent Table 5 Note 3 median length Table 5 Note 4
Note 1

The time periods represent the year in which the incident was reported to police and not necessarily the time period during which the case was completed. The data file used for analysis includes all completed court cases between 2009/2010 and 2021/2022. Completed court cases may not have proceeded with the same charges (i.e., physical assault) that were initially laid or recommended by police.

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Note 2

Characteristics are based on what was reported by police. Since one court case can be linked to multiple victims and incidents, the characteristics presented in this table reflect all court cases where at least one charge was successfully linked to an incident of police-reported sexual assault. As a result, there can be overlap between categories as the same victim or incident may have linked to more than one court case, or one court case may have linked to more than one incident or victim.

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Note 3

The percent calculation excludes cases that resulted in a decision of guilt, but where sentencing detail was unknown.

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Note 4

Length in days. Excludes indeterminate sentences and sentences of unknown length. Excludes sentences of 0 days, which may reflect remaining time in sentenced custody after credit for pre-trial time served, or may be a sentence of unknown length. The median represents the midpoint of all sentences once sorted from lowest to highest.

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Note 5

Victims and accused persons older than 110 years were coded as unknown due to possible instances of miscoding of unknown age within this age category, as were certain victims whose age was reported as 80 and older, but were identified as possible instances of miscoding.

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Note 6

Includes current and former legally married spouses, common-law partners and dating partners (i.e., boyfriends, girlfriends), and other intimate partners (e.g., one-night stands). Victims of spousal violence include those aged 15 and older, and victims of dating violence include those aged 12 and older.

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Note 7

Includes biological, step, adoptive and foster parents.

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Note 8

Includes all other family members related by blood, marriage (including common-law) or adoption (e.g., siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and in-laws).

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Note 9

Includes neighbours, roommates, authority figures, reverse authority figures (e.g., student-to-teacher, patient-to-doctor), business relationships and criminal relationships (i.e., relationships based on illegal activities).

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Note 10

An urban area is defined as a census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA). A CMA consists of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a major urban core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more live in the urban core. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows derived from census data. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000. Rural areas are all areas outside of CMAs and CAs. The Provincial South includes Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the southern regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Provincial North and Territories includes the northern regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Territories.

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Note 11

Based on the end date of an incident and the date it was reported to police.

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Note 12

Reflects the charges laid by police and not necessarily how the charges were processed in court.

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Note 13

Includes injuries that required no professional medical treatment or only some first aid (e.g., bandage, ice), or those that required professional medical attention at the scene or transportation to a medical facility.

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Note: Includes cases completed in adult criminal court only, due to fundamental differences in approach and sentencing between adult and youth courts.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and Integrated Criminal Courts Survey (linked file).
Gender of victim  
At least one victim in the incident was a woman or girl 198,696 103,783 52 32,504 33 38 199,111 95,260 48 30,646 34 34
At least one victim in the incident was a man or boy 150,926 81,009 54 26,742 34 60 147,526 74,695 51 26,506 37 52
Age group of victim  
Incident involved a child victim (11 years and younger) 7,501 4,427 59 1,049 25 83 7,848 4,321 55 922 23 83
Incident involved a youth victim (12 to 17 years) 19,635 11,295 58 2,764 25 45 15,256 8,100 53 2,023 26 48
Incident involved an adult victim (18 to 64 years) 314,244 164,749 52 53,977 34 45 313,549 152,491 49 52,437 36 43
Incident had a senior victim (65 years and older) Table 5 Note 5 7,237 3,776 52 1,214 34 46 9,745 4,861 50 1,662 36 45
Accused–victim relationship  
Incident involved intimate partner violence Table 5 Note 6 173,130 82,761 48 24,107 30 30 176,630 75,255 43 22,069 31 30
Incident involved a parent Table 5 Note 7 14,635 8,255 56 1,802 23 60 14,283 7,309 51 1,553 22 60
Incident involved another family member Table 5 Note 8 24,430 12,947 53 4,275 34 45 25,299 12,345 49 4,256 36 42
Incident involved a friend or casual acquaintance 61,801 35,611 58 12,669 37 60 53,212 29,214 55 10,946 39 60
Incident involved another person known to the victim Table 5 Note 9 18,896 9,931 53 3,292 34 60 23,762 12,444 52 4,594 39 45
Incident involved a stranger 57,412 35,631 62 13,201 38 60 53,805 33,577 62 13,813 43 45
Geography Table 5 Note 10  
Incident occurred in an urban area 226,993 114,194 50 36,210 33 41 222,859 104,085 47 34,741 35 32
Incident occurred in a rural area 73,440 41,016 56 12,034 31 46 76,609 38,655 50 11,878 32 45
Incident occurred in the provincial South 251,842 127,282 51 38,826 32 45 246,695 115,758 47 37,493 34 37
Incident occurred in the provincial North or territories 48,591 27,928 57 9,418 36 40 52,773 26,982 51 9,126 36 36
Delay in reporting Table 5 Note 11  
Same or next day 282,161 146,594 52 45,722 33 42 280,715 134,523 48 44,147 34 34
2 to 7 days 9,102 4,393 48 1,195 28 60 9,050 4,104 45 1,189 30 60
8 to 30 days 3,748 1,759 47 571 33 75 3,819 1,677 44 530 33 90
31 to 365 days 2,849 1,199 42 318 27 76 3,233 1,252 39 324 27 75
More than one year 510 172 34 43 26 90 659 211 32 43 21 150
Level Table 5 Note 12  
Common assault (level 1) 207,230 100,805 49 26,499 27 30 201,004 88,216 44 24,196 29 30
Assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm (level 2) 84,127 48,643 58 18,305 39 60 88,969 48,852 55 19,087 41 60
Aggravated assault (level 3) 9,076 5,762 63 3,440 64 210 9,495 5,672 60 3,336 63 210
Injury  
Incident resulted in minor or major physical injury Table 5 Note 13 230,825 122,977 53 40,374 34 58 227,482 111,309 49 37,535 35 50
Incident did not result in physical injury 103,895 54,344 52 16,435 31 30 105,639 51,855 49 17,191 34 30
Location  
Incident happened in a private residence 206,625 102,534 50 30,860 31 45 210,058 93,495 45 28,265 32 40
Incident happened in an open area, public transit, street, road, or highway 50,332 27,732 55 8,806 33 45 48,524 25,539 53 8,787 36 31
Incident occurred in another non-residential location 41,126 23,659 58 8,136 36 45 40,241 23,329 58 9,429 42 30
Gender of accused  
Accused was a woman or girl 62,883 26,290 42 4,528 18 30 66,062 24,504 37 4,992 21 30
Accused was a man or boy 237,358 128,822 54 43,690 35 45 233,244 118,159 51 41,603 37 42
Age group of accused  
12 to 17 years 98 36 37 10 29 8 74 18 24 2 12 105
18 to 24 years 74,183 41,420 56 12,258 31 45 62,881 32,050 51 9,682 31 45
25 to 44 years 163,013 84,534 52 28,193 35 45 170,928 83,087 49 29,556 37 38
45 to 64 years 58,761 27,607 47 7,589 29 30 60,315 25,806 43 7,163 29 30
65 years and older Table 5 Note 5 4,378 1,613 37 194 13 27 5,269 1,778 34 216 13 30
Total 300,433 155,210 52 48,244 32 45 299,468 142,740 48 46,619 34 37
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