Statistics Canada Report on Homicide in Canada

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat last week published an article on Homicide in Canada, 2018.

Nationally, police reported 651 homicides in 2018, 15 fewer victims than the previous year. Although the homicide rate fell 4% in 2018 to 1.76 per 100,000 population, it remains higher than the national average for the previous decade.

While homicide continues to be a relatively rare occurrence, representing less than 0.2% of all violent crimes in Canada in 2018, homicide rates are considered benchmarks for levels of violent activity both in Canada and internationally.

Among the highlights of the report:

• The decrease in the national number of homicides was a result of notably fewer victims in Alberta (-38 homicides), British Columbia (-30), Quebec (-10) and Nova Scotia (-10), but was offset by a record increase in Ontario due to homicides in the Toronto census metropolitan area.
• There were 266 homicides reported in Ontario in 2018, an increase of 69 from 2017. This is the highest number of homicides and the largest year over year increase reported in a single province since Statistics Canada began collecting this data in 1961. With a rate of 1.86 per 100,000 population, it is also the highest rate in Ontario since 1991 (2.36).
• With 142 victims in 2018, Toronto, Canada’s most populated census metropolitan area (CMA), had the most homicides of all CMAs as well as the most homicides ever reported in Toronto since collection at the CMA level began in 1981. This is a 53% increase in the number of victims (93 victims in 2017) and a 50% increase in the rate of homicide from 2017 (1.51 victims per 100,000 population in 2017 to 2.26 victims per 100,000 population in homicides 2018).
• The national rates for both firearm-related (-8%) and gang-related (-5%) homicides declined in 2018. This marks the first decrease in firearm-related homicides since 2013 and the first decrease in gang-related homicides since 2014.
• The national year over year decline in the number of firearm-related homicides (-18) is a result of fewer firearm-related homicides in areas outside of census metropolitan areas (-20).
• In 2018, there were 140 Indigenous victims of homicide, a decrease from 157 in 2017. Although the rate of homicide for Indigenous peoples in 2018 decreased from 2017 (7.31 per 100,000 Indigenous people in 2018 compared to 8.45 in 2017), it was still approximately five times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous people (1.44 per 100,000 non-Indigenous people in 2018). The highest rates of homicide were among Indigenous male victims, followed by Indigenous females and non-Indigenous males.
• Spousal homicide was the only category of homicide to increase in 2018 (+9 victims). In contrast, there were 31 fewer homicides committed by someone with whom the victim had a criminal relationship (e.g., drug dealers and their clients).