Table 3
Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by offence type and incident characteristic, Canada, 2024

Table 3 Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by offence type and incident characteristic, Canada, 2024
Table summary
The information is grouped by Selected incident characteristic (appearing as row headers), Total online child sexual exploitation4, Online sexual offences against children1, Online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences2,3, Total online sexual offences against children, Luring a child, Non-consensual distribution of intimate images, Invitation to sexual touching, Other online sexual offences against children5, Total online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences, Possessing or accessing online child sexual abuse and exploitation material and Making or distributing online child sexual abuse and exploitation material, calculated using number units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Selected incident characteristic Total online child sexual exploitation Table 3 Note 3 Online sexual offences against children Table 3 Note 1 Online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences Table 3 Note 2 
Total online sexual offences against children Luring a child Non-consensual distribution of intimate images Invitation to sexual touching Other online sexual offences against children Table 3 Note 4 Total online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences Possessing or accessing online child sexual abuse and exploitation material Making or distributing online child sexual abuse and exploitation material
number
Note x

suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act

Note 1

Includes online sexual violations against children and other online sexual offences where the victim was identified as being aged 17 years or younger on the first recorded date of the incident.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences are cybercrime incidents involving offences under section 163.1 of the Criminal Code, which makes it illegal to make, distribute, possess or access child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Includes online sexual offences against children and online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note 4

Other online sexual offences against children is a catch all category that encompasses all other sexual violations against children (excluding online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences) which were facilitated by, or involved the use of, technology.

Return to note 4 referrer

Note 5

Includes incidents that had the same start and end date, as well as incidents that had no start date.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note 6

Excludes isolated incidents.

Return to note 6 referrer

Note 7

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

Return to note 7 referrer

Note 8

Excludes incidents that were reported the same day the incident occurred and incidents that were reported before the recorded end date.

Return to note 8 referrer

Note: An incident is considered to be an online incident if it was flagged as a cybercrime. An incident is flagged as a cybercrime when the crime targets information and communication technology (ICT), or when the crime used ICT to commit the offence. ICT includes, but is not limited to, the Internet, computers, servers, digital technology, digital telecommunications devices, phones and networks. Crimes committed over text and through messages using social media platforms are also considered cybercrime activity. Counts are based on the cyber violation which may not be the most serious violation in the incident. In 2024, the cyber violation was the most serious violation for 99% of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) incidents. The data exclude Saint John Police Force. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) serves as the primary point of contact in Canada for investigations related to the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. Working in partnership with specialized provincial Internet child exploitation policing units, police services across Canada and internationally, the NCECC forwards suspected cases of OCSE to the appropriate police of jurisdiction for investigation. Due to a substantial increase in the volume and complexity of these cases (many of which involve Generative Artificial Intelligence), many police services do not have the resources to investigate all cases forwarded by the NCECC. As a result, these data reflect the number of police-reported investigations for the year, accounting for only a subset of suspected OCSE cases within Canada. Includes a small proportion of incidents where victim age was recoded. In some incidents, the victim was aged 17 years or younger at the time of the offence, but was aged 18 years or older when the incident was reported by police. Victim age was recoded to the age of the victim on the first recorded date of the incident.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
Total 16,905 3,927 2,903 488 156 380 12,978 2,192 10,786
Number of violations within the incident  
Single violation 8,141 2,892 2,343 360 18 171 5,249 2,151 3,098
Multiple violations 8,764 1,035 560 128 138 209 7,729 41 7,688
Length of incident  
Isolated or single-day incident Table 3 Note 5 15,085 3,096 2,362 382 86 266 11,989 2,021 9,968
2 to 7 days 244 138 97 20 9 12 106 25 81
8 to 30 days 329 201 140 28 13 20 128 36 92
31 to 365 days 1,044 376 244 40 35 57 668 83 585
More than 365 days 203 116 60 18 13 25 87 27 60
Median duration in days Table 3 Note 6 113 51 40 52 69 70 349 80 364
Delay in reporting to police Table 3 Note 7  
Reported same or next day 10,684 2,817 2,153 361 86 217 7,867 1,356 6,511
Reported same day as incident 10,314 2,603 2,026 318 77 182 7,711 1,331 6,380
Reported next day after incident 370 214 127 43 9 35 156 25 131
Reported 2 to 7 days after incident 678 290 183 55 16 36 388 80 308
Reported 8 to 30 days after incident 1,438 210 137 30 13 30 1,228 211 1,017
Reported 31 to 365 days after incident 2,966 445 331 28 24 62 2,521 475 2,046
Reported more than one year after incident 1,012 108 63 x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 24 904 48 856
Reported while the incident was ongoing 127 57 36 x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 11 70 22 48
Median reporting delay in days Table 3 Note 8 50 17 23 5 26 21 57 43 61
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