Table 1
Number of Indigenous accused and White accused in adult criminal court, by select sociodemographic characteristics, Canada, 2016/2017 to 2020/2021

Table 1
Number of Indigenous accused and White accused in adult criminal court, by select sociodemographic characteristics, Canada, 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 Table summary
The information is grouped by Characteristics (appearing as row headers), Indigenous1 and White2, calculated using number, percent , number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Characteristics Indigenous Table 1 Note 1 White Table 1 Note 2
number percent number percent
Note 1

Indigenous accused are accused individuals who identified as First Nations, Inuit or Métis in the 2016 Census.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

White accused are accused individuals who identified as neither Indigenous nor as part of a visible minority group in the 2016 Census.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Sex is defined as female or male in the 2016 Census.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note 4

Age at date of offence. Excludes calculated ages under 18 years and older than 100 years. When the date of the offence was missing, age was calculated using the case start date.

Return to note 4 referrer

Note 5

Sentencing is disseminated for the most serious offense in the case.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note 6

Prior convictions were identified as all convictions in the fiscal years prior to the case completion year back to the fiscal year 2005/2006.

Return to note 6 referrer

Note 7

Violent offences are defined as crimes against the person, which include criminal harassment; uttering threats; assault; sexual assault; other sexual offences; and offences in relation to sexual services, robbery, attempted murder and homicide.

Return to note 7 referrer

Notes: Only individuals who had a completed court case in the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) and were linked to the 2016 Census of Population long-form questionnaire were retained for analysis. Calibrated weights were developed for this dataset so that the sum of these weights equal the total population of accused before the courts. Weights were calibrated to ensure consistency between the linked ICCS population and the total ICCS population in terms of key sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender and criminal history). Calibrated weights were developed independently for each fiscal year of ICCS data. Results for each year were produced using these calibrated weights. Percentages may not add to 100% because of rounding.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Linked 2016 Census of Population long-form questionnaire and Integrated Criminal Court Survey.
Sex Table 1 Note 3  
Female 86,300 30 159,050 21
Male 198,390 70 583,620 79
Age group (years)Table 1 Note 4  
18 to 24 67,470 24 145,940 20
25 to 34 109,000 38 220,060 30
35 to 44 63,690 22 172,020 23
45 to 54 32,050 11 118,470 16
55 and older 12,460 4 86,200 12
Most serious offence in the case Table 1 Note 5  
Crime against the person 85,290 30 190,850 26
Crime against property 57,050 20 168,320 23
Administration of justice 77,290 27 124,120 17
Other Criminal Code 20,580 7 48,450 7
Criminal Code traffic 28,030 10 126,330 17
Other federal statute 16,460 6 84,620 11
Number of prior convictions Table 1 Note 6  
0 80,330 28 389,460 52
1 to 2 43,210 15 118,340 16
3 to 4 25,160 9 51,390 7
5 or more 135,980 48 183,470 25
Any prior conviction for a violent offence Table 1 Note 7  
No 185,800 65 534,550 72
Yes 98,880 35 208,120 28
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