Data released by Statistics Canada shows the country is grappling with its highest homicide rate in three decades.
The police-reported crime statistics, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), were released on Monday, covering 2022. The overall police-reported crime has witnessed a 4% increase.
Last year, the national homicide rate surged by almost 8%, reaching 2.25 homicides per 100,000 population – an alarming figure not seen since 1992. This increase extends a four-year trend of rising homicide rates across the country.
There were 874 reported homicides across the country, 78 more than the previous year.
“Despite recent increases, homicides remain a rare event in Canada, accounting for less than 0.2% of all police-reported violent crimes,” reads the report.
Violent crime was up 5%, following a 6% increase the previous year. Robbery has increased by 15%, extortion by 39%, homicide by 8%, and level 1 sexual assault by 3%.
When measuring the rate of homicide by province, Manitoba has the highest rate of homicide at 6.24 per 100,000 population. Saskatchewan follows closely behind at 5.94. Then comes a steep drop-off, with British Columbia holding third place at 2.91.
The Northwest Territories were higher than any province, at 6.58 homicides per 100,000 population.
Not a single homicide was reported in Prince Edward Island.
There was also a marked increase in the number of Canadian youths accused of homicide. There were 90 youths accused of homicide in 2022, compared with 33 in 2021, and an average of 39 over the previous ten years.
Approximately one in five (16%) of youths accused of homicide were linked to gang-related incidents. This excludes 1% of youths accused of homicide, for which this information is unknown.
Adding to the severity of the situation is the increase in police officer fatalities.
There were five homicides of police officers in 2022. Police victims included those killed because of their occupation, whether they were on duty or not. This figure is higher than the average for the previous ten years (two police victims) and is the highest number of police killings in 37 years — since 1985.
In spite of these alarming statistics, the report from Statistics Canada notes that “Despite recent increases, homicides remain a rare event in Canada, accounting for less than 0.2% of all police-reported violent crimes in 2022.”
