Just the Facts
Firearm-related violent crime, 2009 to 2017

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Release date: August 27, 2018

Firearm-related violent crime declined 33% from 2009 to 2013, reaching its lowest point in recent years. The downward trend stopped in 2013 and, since then, it has gone up 42%. Between 2013 and 2017, 16 of Canada’s census metropolitan areas saw increases in their rate of firearm-related violent crime, including 7 of the 10 largest. Of note, 43% of the national increase since 2013 is due to more victims in Toronto. Each year since 2009, about six in ten firearm-related violent crimes involved handguns.

Firearm-related violent crime shows the number of victims of violent Criminal Code offences where a firearm was fired or used as a threat, and/or where a firearm was present and not used but the presence of the firearm was relevant to the incident, according to the police.

Chart 1

Data table for Chart 1

Data table for chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 1. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year OttawaData table Note 1 TorontoData table Note 2 Calgary Edmonton Vancouver Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 34.02 40.68 35.47 26.17 33.58 28.64
2010 21.22 22.44 32.93 24.79 32.92 23.24
2011 16.81 22.12 25.16 25.73 24.35 21.90
2012 14.73 20.54 21.43 27.92 29.48 21.88
2013 16.29 17.78 22.06 26.85 22.93 19.18
2014 16.72 25.56 23.84 29.31 22.74 21.00
2015 15.55 29.40 30.72 43.73 27.08 24.94
2016 21.31 32.86 24.44 38.48 20.41 26.03
2017 20.20 35.66 29.85 28.74 16.17 27.32

Firearm-related violent crime does not include non-violent or administrative-type firearm offences—such as break and enter to steal a firearm or unsafe storage—as these data are collected and reported separately.


Police-reported crime involving firearms, Canada, 2009 to 2017
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime involving firearms. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Break and enter and Unsafe storage, calculated using number and rate per 100,000 units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Break and enter Unsafe storage
number rate per 100,000 number rate per 100,000
2009 309 0.9 1,208 3.6
2010 673 2.0 1,196 3.5
2011 772 2.3 1,077 3.1
2012 913 2.6 1,115 3.2
2013 918 2.6 1,053 3.0
2014 1,000 2.8 990 2.8
2015 1,164 3.2 962 2.7
2016 1,272 3.5 993 2.7
2017 1,175 3.2 921 2.5

Chart 2

Data table for Chart 2

Data table for chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 2. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Shooting, Stabbing and Beating, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Shooting Stabbing Beating
rate per 100,000 population
1996 0.72 0.66 0.44
1997 0.65 0.56 0.38
1998 0.5 0.62 0.41
1999 0.55 0.47 0.41
2000 0.6 0.49 0.42
2001 0.55 0.55 0.39
2002 0.48 0.58 0.4
2003 0.52 0.45 0.39
2004 0.54 0.64 0.43
2005 0.69 0.61 0.44
2006 0.59 0.64 0.37
2007 0.57 0.57 0.36
2008 0.6 0.61 0.37
2009 0.54 0.62 0.35
2010 0.51 0.49 0.34
2011 0.46 0.6 0.38
2012 0.49 0.47 0.33
2013 0.38 0.55 0.29
2014 0.44 0.53 0.28
2015 0.5 0.6 0.37
2016 0.61 0.48 0.32

In Canada, there were 130 homicides committed using a handgun in 2016, the most since 2005. These accounted for 21% of homicides overall, and 58% of shooting homicides.

Since 1996, handguns have been used in 16% to 21% of homicides each year, except for 1998 (13%).

In the United States, there were 7,105 homicides committed using a handgun in 2016. These accounted for 47% of all homicides.


Victims of police-reported violent crime where a firearm was present, by census metropolitan area, 2009 to 2017
Table summary
This table displays the results of Victims of police-reported violent crime where a firearm was present. The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (appearing as row headers), Year, change since 2009, change since 2013, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area Year change since 2009 change since 2013
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1 number rateVictims of Note 1
Canada 7,305 28.6 5,997 23.2 5,707 21.9 5,776 21.9 5,126 19.2 5,681 21.0 6,809 24.9 7,201 26.0 7,660 27.3 decrease increase
St. John's 16 8.4 16 8.2 26 13.0 7 3.5 28 13.8 18 8.8 15 7.3 19 9.1 25 12.0 increase decrease
Halifax 170 43.2 118 29.6 165 41.0 171 42.0 104 25.4 80 19.3 67 16.1 61 14.4 107 24.8 decrease decrease
Moncton 22 16.2 12 8.7 40 28.6 55 38.8 27 18.9 35 22.6 24 15.4 66 41.8 47 29.5 increase increase
OttawaVictims of Note 2 316 34.0 199 21.2 160 16.8 142 14.7 159 16.3 165 16.7 155 15.6 216 21.3 209 20.2 decrease increase
Kingston 26 16.3 10 6.2 8 4.9 12 7.3 14 8.5 9 5.4 11 6.6 10 6.0 20 11.8 decrease increase
Peterborough 14 11.7 16 13.2 10 8.3 18 14.8 26 21.3 5 4.1 19 15.5 18 14.5 11 8.8 decrease decrease
TorontoVictims of Note 3 2,056 40.7 1,151 22.4 1,151 22.1 1,086 20.5 955 17.8 1,391 25.6 1,616 29.4 1,837 32.9 2,032 35.7 decrease increase
HamiltonVictims of Note 4 190 36.0 186 35.0 180 33.6 182 33.6 123 22.5 150 27.2 141 25.4 177 31.6 220 38.7 increase increase
St.Catharines-Niagara 119 27.0 64 14.5 73 16.5 58 13.0 65 14.6 63 14.1 44 9.8 69 15.2 65 14.2 decrease decrease
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 84 16.4 93 18.0 90 17.2 114 21.5 81 15.2 70 13.0 67 12.4 107 19.4 120 21.4 increase increase
Brantford 21 16.0 20 15.1 25 18.8 23 17.2 38 28.1 14 10.3 25 18.2 26 18.7 32 22.7 increase decrease
Guelph 8 6.5 6 4.8 5 4.0 13 10.2 15 11.7 9 7.0 15 11.5 11 8.3 8 5.9 decrease decrease
London 115 23.7 118 24.1 95 19.3 94 18.9 63 12.6 53 10.5 61 12.0 82 15.9 60 11.4 decrease decrease
Windsor 75 25.0 66 22.1 67 22.4 49 16.3 51 17.0 43 14.3 68 22.5 70 22.9 82 26.6 increase increase
Barrie 13 9.5 17 12.2 11 7.8 17 11.9 27 18.7 14 9.6 18 12.1 26 17.2 30 19.5 increase increase
Greater Sudbury 31 18.8 20 12.1 19 11.5 10 6.1 20 12.1 16 9.7 19 11.5 9 5.5 16 9.7 decrease decrease
Thunder Bay 14 11.7 24 20.0 14 11.7 8 6.7 14 11.5 17 14.0 23 19.0 11 9.1 27 22.4 increase increase
Winnipeg 295 38.9 304 39.7 306 39.4 247 31.2 243 30.3 230 29.1 290 35.8 396 49.8 473 58.4 increase increase
Regina 58 27.3 56 25.9 57 25.8 45 19.8 60 25.7 63 26.4 76 31.4 155 62.5 116 45.7 increase increase
Saskatoon 95 36.1 100 37.0 77 27.8 109 38.1 65 22.0 91 30.0 143 46.3 98 30.8 157 48.1 increase increase
Calgary 434 35.5 410 32.9 319 25.2 280 21.4 301 22.1 336 23.8 442 30.7 359 24.4 446 29.9 decrease increase
Edmonton 306 26.2 295 24.8 312 25.7 347 27.9 345 26.8 389 29.3 593 43.7 532 38.5 404 28.7 increase increase
Kelowna 38 21.3 44 24.3 32 17.5 34 18.4 29 15.5 40 21.0 35 18.0 40 20.2 31 15.4 decrease decrease
Abbotsford-Mission 63 36.9 61 35.3 36 20.7 33 18.7 36 20.2 39 21.6 61 33.2 31 16.4 45 23.6 decrease increase
Vancouver 773 33.6 772 32.9 578 24.4 711 29.5 561 22.9 565 22.7 680 27.1 519 20.4 416 16.2 decrease decrease
Victoria 57 16.4 30 8.5 34 9.6 31 8.7 31 8.6 20 5.5 23 6.3 24 6.4 34 9.0 decrease increase
Start of text box
For more information on Statistics Canada data on firearm-related crime in Canada, consult the following:
End of text box
Report a problem on this page

Is something not working? Is there information outdated? Can't find what you're looking for?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Privacy notice

Date modified: