Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2021 (2024)

Since 1962, Statistics Canada has collected information on allcriminal incidents reported by Canadian police services through its annualUniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey.^Note In addition to theUCR,Statistics Canada also collects information on self-reported criminalvictimization through the General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety(Victimization), which is conducted every five years. Unlike theUCR,theGSSon Victimization collects self-reported data which includesincidents that may not have been brought to the attention of the police. Thesecomplementary surveys provide a more complete picture of crime andvictimization in Canada.

ThisJuristatarticlepresents findings from the 2021UCRSurvey to provide information onpolice-reported crime across Canada and over time.^Note To publish police-reported crime statistics in a timely manner, this articlerelies mostly on aggregate data (totals), which are the first crime dataavailable each calendar year. To inform some community safety issues which areparticularly relevant to the pandemic, such as family violence and hate crime,this article also draws on detailed disaggregated data on the characteristicsof incidents, victims and accused persons. These disaggregated data will alsobe available for custom requests and will be included in future analyticalproducts.^Note Crime counts presented in the article arebased on the most serious violation in a criminal incident (see Key terminology and definitions).

This article first provides an overview of important contextsurrounding crime in Canada given the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemicin 2021. This is followed by an analysis of keystatistical trends in crime reported by police in 2021, includingthe volume and severity of crime, and the offences driving these trends. It then brieflyexplores other selected violation types that may have contributed to recentcrime trends or for which these latest data can help to inform prior publications. Finally,the article describes trends for youth accused of committing crime.As in prior years, this publicationprovides a general summary of police-reported crime in Canada in 2021, layinggroundwork for future detailed data analysis.

COVID-19 context for police-reported crime statistics in 2021

Police-reported crime statistics reflect only those incidents thatare reported to the police, which can be affected by large-scale criminalevents, social movements and changes in legislation, policies and procedures(seeText box 1).

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have profound impacts onCanada’s economy, health care system and society in general throughout 2021.Early in the first year of the pandemic, policies enacted to contain the spreadof the virus resulted in unprecedented disruptions in the social and economiclives of Canadians, changing how we interact, socialize, learn, work andconsume. The pandemic continued to impact Canadians, but perhaps in a differentway, as restrictions began to lift across the country. The pandemic has alsohad major social and economic impacts on Canadians, some of which wereshort-term changes as an acute response to the ongoing situation, and some ofwhich are longer-term. Crime trends reflect these evolving circ*mstances in2021.Information on the broader social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemiccan be found on StatisticsCanada’s COVID-19 hub.

Since March 2020, the vast majority of Canada’s population weretypically spending more time at home and many businesses closed or turned tonew methods of operation, often online. These changes have, at least partially,affected crime patterns across the country. With the advent of vaccinationprograms and government-led reopening plans, many Canadians returned to in-personwork and education in the second year of the pandemic, while others continuedto work and learn remotely. In general, though there were shifting situations anddifferential jurisdictional responses to emergent waves of the coronavirus incommunities, the pandemic has resulted in people tending to stay home moreoften, reducing contacts with others, and using the Internet more often thanprior to the pandemic.

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Canada’s Crime Severity Index stable in the second year of the pandemic,but violent crime went up

Canada’sCrime Severity Index (CSI) was stable in the second year of the pandemic—changingfrom 73.9 in 2020 to 73.7 in 2021 (Chart 1; Table1). This follows a 7% drop in the CSI in 2020, the first after fiveyears of increases. The stability in the CSI was predominantly the result ofdecreases in non-violent crime—such as breaking and entering, and to a lesserextent, decreases in theft of $5,000 or under—offset by increases inviolent crime. The Non-violent CSI—which includes all propertyoffences—declined 3%, after a 9% drop in 2020. The overall CSI was 5% lowerthan a decade earlier in 2011.

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The Violent Crime Severity Index rose in 2021, largely due to more police-reportedlevel 1 sexual assaults

Incontrast to declines in the Non-violent CSI, there was an increase in the ViolentCSI driven by a relatively large increase in the rate of level 1 sexual assault(+18%).^Note Various other violentcrimes also increased in volume in 2021, however they had a more marginal impact on the CSI. These include: sexual violations against children, assault(level 1 and 2), homicide, extortion, harassing and threatening behaviours, andviolent firearm violations. Overall, the Violent CSI increased 5% in 2021 to 92.5.This follows a 3% drop in 2020, after five years of increases. By comparison, thevalue in 2021 was higher than in 2019, and 8% higher than a decade ago.

TheCSI measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, andhas a base index value of 100 for 2006. The police-reported crime rate, whichmeasures only the volume of crime, was nearly stable, rising 1% from 2020 to2021 (Table 2). Canadian policeservices reported just over 2 million Criminal Code incidents (excludingtraffic) in 2021, about 25,500 more than in 2020. The relative stability wasmostly the result of counteracting fluctuations in violent crime and propertycrime. The annual rates of violent crime (+5%) and other (non-property) CriminalCode offences (+2%) increased, while property crime (-1%) decreased for thesecond year in a row. Additionally, the rate of police-reported drug offencesunder theControlledDrugs and Substances Act (CDSA)and theCannabis Actdecreased 9%in 2021 (Table 3).

AlthoughtheCSIand the crime rate are separate measures, withtheCSIaccounting not only for volume but also changes in therelative severity of police-reported crime (see Text box 2), both measures show similartrends in police-reported crime in Canada since 1998 (Chart 2; Chart 1).

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Changes in the Crime Severity Index varied across Canada

Acrossthe provinces and territories, there were contrasting annual changes in theCSI, resulting in general stability nationally. Between 2020 and 2021, 6 ofCanada’s 10 provinces and Nunavut reported increases in theirCSI, whilethe others reported decreases(Table 4). As has been the case since 1998,the Prairie provinces and British Columbia have had the highestCSIs amongthe provinces, while the three territories have reported the highestCSIsoverall (Chart 3).^Note

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Amongthe provinces, Quebec (+5%) and Ontario (+1%) reported increases in their CSIsin 2021 and therefore had the largest mitigating impacts on the change in theCSI. The rise in Canada’s two largest provinces was primarily due to relativelylarge increases in level 1 sexual assault, as well as an increase in generalfraud in Quebec and homicide in Ontario, while there were declines in breakingand entering (Table 5).

Incontrast, the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia had the largest relativeimpact on decreases in the national CSI, falling 7% and 5%, respectively. Theviolations driving these decreases were breaking and entering, theft of $5,000or under, and to a lesser extent, general fraud. As was the case at thenational level, both provinces also reported relatively large increases inlevel 1 sexual assault.

Fora summary of detailed information available on the police-reported CSI,including the primary contributors to the changes in CSI in each province andterritory, see Text box 2.

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Volume of violent crime reported monthly continued to be at or abovepre-pandemic levels

Inthe second year of the pandemic, monthly counts of police-reported violentcrime tended to be at or above pre-pandemic levels (Chart 4).^Note Overall, the volume of violent crime was 5% higher in 2021 compared with 2019.In contrast, the monthly volume of property crime in 2021 remained lower thanprior to the pandemic (-12% overall from 2019 to 2021). As a result, in thelatter portion of 2020 through 2021, the general pattern of monthly counts ofpolice-reported crime mostly returned to what had been observed in the monthsprior to March 2020, when initial pandemic responses began.

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Historically,there has generally been a seasonal pattern to police-reported crime in Canada.Crime was typically at its lowest in the winter months during first and fourthquarters of the year (October through March). Crime would then begin toincrease to a peak in July and August, before dropping again in the fall andwinter months. People generally socialize more in the summer months,potentially affording more opportunity for crimes to occur or for crime to bemore visible. This pattern was disrupted somewhat by the pandemic due to thevery low volume of crime reported in the second quarter of 2020 (April to June).

Changes in crime differed in urban and rural areas

Throughout the pandemic, the major categories of crime in urbanareas decreased significantly compared with 2019, while violent crime in ruralareas increased (Chart 5).^Note Overall, thecrime rate in urban areas decreased 11% from 2019 to 2020, and then remainedstable in 2021, while the crime rate in rural areas was down 1% in 2020,followed by a 2% increase in 2021.

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Overall, the violent crime rate in rural areas increased 3% in 2021compared with 2020, and was 7% higher than in 2019. The rate of property crimein rural areas was 1% lower in 2021 compared with 2019. In contrast, urbanareas experienced a significant decrease (-14%) in the rate of property crime in2020 (as well as an 11% drop in other Criminal Code offences), andanother 2% decrease in 2021. Violent crime in urban areas was down 3% in thefirst year of the pandemic, but rebounded in 2021 to levels higher than in 2019.Said another way, the rural crime rate remained fairly stable from 2019 to 2021,with violent crime increasing throughout the pandemic, while the urban crimerate decreased largely due to less property crime and fewer other CriminalCode offences.

It is important to note that rural areas of Canada are oftenanalyzed as a hom*ogenous group, however, they are subject to high variability,both in terms of crime rate, as well as relative location across the country (Perreault2019). For example, differences in urban and rural areas werepreviously noted in the Prairie Provinces relative to other provinces, as wellas a distinction between north and south regions. For detailed information onrural Canada, see Statistics Canada’s Rural Canada Statistics Portal.

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Key trends for police-reported crime in Canada in 2021

In2021, there were significant changes for certain offences that highlight howpolice-reported crime was evolving in Canada.

Thefollowing sections cover a selection of offences that contributed to howpolice-reported crime evolved in Canada in 2021. Specifically, sexual assault, breakingand entering, theft of $5,000 or under and robbery were importantcontributors to the change in the Crime Severity Index. Descriptive text boxesprovide detail on police-reported family violence, hate-motivated crime, and offences against theadministration of the criminal justice system,topics relevant to the dynamics of the pandemic. Additionally, certain offencesprovide an indicator of how crime continues to shift in Canada, whether or notthey directly impacted the CSI, including opioiddrug offences, violent firearm crime,fraud, harassingand threatening behaviours and homicide.

Sharp rise in the rate of police-reported level 1 sexual assault

While theoverall CSI was stable in 2021, violent crime was up, primarily due to an 18%increase in the rate of level 1 sexual assault. The rise in level 1 sexualassault accounted for 40% of the increase in the Violent CSI. In contrast, therates of police-reported level 2 and 3 sexual assault decreased 5% and 13%,respectively. In total, level 1 sexual assault accounted for 98% of sexualassaults in 2021.

Overall, therewere 34,242 police-reported sexual assaults (level 1, 2 and 3) in 2021, representing90 incidents per 100,000 population (Table3; Table 5). This rate was 18%higher than in 2020, and the highest rate since 1996 (the rate was the same asin 1997). Prior to a decrease in 2020, the rate of sexual assault had increasedsteadily for five years (Chart 6). From 2020 to 2021, the rate ofpolice-reported sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3) increased in all provinces,but decreased in all three territories (Table 5).^Note

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Despite the general increase in police-reportedsexual assault, as well as considerable public discussion of issues aroundsexual violence in recent years, the number of sexual assaults reported bypolice is likely a significant underestimation of the true extent of sexualassault in Canada, as these types of offences often go unreported to police.The most recently available self-reported data, from the 2019 General SocialSurvey on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), show that 6% of sexual assaultincidents experienced by Canadians aged 15 and older in the previous 12 monthswere brought to the attention of police (Cotter 2021). Similarly, according to data fromthe 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, 5% of women stated thatthe police found out about the most serious incident of sexual assault they hadexperienced (Cotter andSavage 2019).

In2020, pandemic-related lockdown conditions could have exacerbated issues aroundunderreporting of sexual assaults. With widespread stay-at-home orders andoverburdened hospital and medical care resources, it may have been moredifficult for victims to come forward to report instances of sexual assault, andless likely that a third-party (for example a doctor or teacher) would identifysigns of abuse, particularly for children and youth. Likewise, withcirc*mstances around the pandemic evolving in 2021, there may have been moreopportunity for individuals to report sexual assaults, but also potentiallymore opportunity for sexual assaults committed by strangers. There are someindications that family violence services and victims of family violence were disproportionatelyimpacted by the pandemic (seeText box 4).

In2021, less than one in ten (8%) level 1 sexual assaults reported to police wereclassified as unfounded, meaning it had been determined through policeinvestigation that the incident reported did not occur, nor was it attempted.This represents a continued decrease in unfounded incidents from a high of 14%in 2017 (Table 6).For comparison, the proportion of common physical assault (level 1) classifiedas unfounded dropped from 11% in 2017 and has stabilized at 9% in 2021. Formore detailed information on the potential impact of unfounded criminalincidents in previous years, refer to Text box 2 inMoreau et al. 2020 and Moreau 2019.

Notethat the information presented on sexual assaults excludes incidents of sexualviolations against children, as well as child p*rnography offences. Informationon these violations can be found in “Findingsfor other selected police-reported offences in Canada in 2021.”

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Continued decrease in rates of breaking and entering, theft of $5,000 orunder, and robbery

Nationally,decreases in breaking and entering, and to a lesser extent robbery and theft of$5,000 or under, were primary contributors to the declining element of thecrime severity index in 2021. As was observed in 2020, these offences werelikely impacted by conditions of the pandemic, namely people being at home moreoften and shifting business models for some retail stores.

In2021, the rate of breaking and entering declined 10% nationally to 328incidents per 100,000 population (Table 3). This decline followsa 16% drop in 2020. Since peaking in 1991, the police-reported rate of breakingand entering has generally been declining in Canada (Chart 7). Over the lastdecade, the rate of breaking and entering has fallen 38%. Despite thisdecrease, breaking and entering continued to be a relatively common form ofproperty crime; just over 125,500 incidents were reported by police in 2021. Mostnotably, breaking and entering was the highest contributing violation to theoverall CSI in Canada, accounting for 16% of the index (see Text box 2).

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Allprovinces other than Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported declines or nochange in the rate of breaking and entering in 2021 (Table 5). The largest decreasesoccurred in Alberta (-17%), British Columbia (-15%) and Quebec (-12%). Incontrast, all three territories reported increases in 2021. Given itsrelatively high volume and CSI weight, changes in rates of breaking andentering had an impact on CSIs in several jurisdictions (seeText box 2 and Appendix A to D).In 2021, 20 out of 35 census metropolitan areas (CMAs)^Note reporteddecreases or no change in breaking and entering (Table 7).

In2021, rates of theft of $5,000 or under dropped 4%, following a 19% decline in2020. The decline in theft of $5,000 or under was the second largestcontributor to the decrease in the general crime severity index, though itsimpact was small relative to breaking and entering. The drop was fairlylocalized; among the provinces, Alberta (-15% rate), British Columbia (-12%rate) and Prince Edward Island (-10% rate) reported large decreases in theft of$5,000 or under, while the other provinces reported an increase or no changesince last year.

Followinga considerable decrease in 2020, rates of shoplifting of $5,000 or under wereup 3% in 2021 (Table 3;Chart 7).Still, shoplifting rates were 33% lower than in 2019. Prior to 2020, rates ofshoplifting had been increasing for 6 years, with larger increases in 2018 and2019. As could be expected with nation-wide restrictions generally easing in2021, rates of shoplifting rose again with some stores opening to in-personshopping. Additionally, technological changes (for example, surveillancecameras and anti-theft devices) and more reporting options, including onlinereporting to police, may also increase the likelihood that a given incident ofshoplifting is reported.

SpecificCMAs accounted for large changes in police-reported shoplifting rates inseveral provinces (Table 7).For example, the rate of shoplifting increased significantly in Halifax and St.John’s, and decreased in Winnipeg and Edmonton. Several CMAs in Ontarioexperienced large changes up or down, and all four CMAs in British Columbiareported increases.

Thenational rate of police-reported robbery dropped 5% in 2021, from 51 incidentsper 100,000 population to 48 incidents. This follows an 18% decrease the yearbefore. Rates of police-reported robbery had been fairly stable for the fiveyears preceding the pandemic period. Rates of robbery declined or remainedunchanged throughout most of Canada in 2021, with the exception of AtlanticCanada (excluding New Brunswick) and Nunavut (Table 5). Rates of robbery alsodeclined or remained the same in 19 of 35 CMAs, however for those that reportedan increase, rates increased fairly substantially, with 13 CMAs reportingincreases of at least 10% (Table 7). These increases were typically arebound from decreases reported in 2020.

Police-reported opioid drug offences continue to increase during thepandemic

Accordingto the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the COVID-19 pandemic isworsening the ongoing public health crisis of opioid overdose deaths andhospitalizations. Between January 2016 and December 2021,PHACreportedthat 29,052 apparent opioid toxicity deaths had occurred in Canada. During thefirst year of the pandemic (April 2020 to March 2021), there were 7,362opioid-related deaths, a 96% increase from the previous year. Since then, thenumber of deaths has remained high. Of all accidental apparent opioid toxicitydeaths in 2021, 86% involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. Opioid-relateddeaths and hospitalizations have also been linked to the use of stimulants suchas cocaine and methamphetamine, reflecting the polysubstance nature of thecrisis (Special AdvisoryCommitteeon the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2022).

A number of factors were cited as possible contributors to a worsening of theopioid overdose crisis during the pandemic, including the increasingly toxicdrug supply, increased feelings of isolation, stress and anxiety and limitedavailability or accessibility of services for people who use drugs (Special Advisory Committee onthe Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2022).

In2021, there were 5,996 opioid-related offences in Canada, representing a rateof 16 per 100,000 population, a 13% increase compared to 2020 (Table 8).^Note This also followed a 37%increase in 2020.All opioid-relateddrug violations increased in 2021, including more possession, trafficking,production and importation or exportation offences (Table 9). Among the provinces, the highestrates were reported in British Columbia (57 per 100,000 population), Ontario(13) and Alberta (13), with notable increases in Quebec, Ontario and thePrairie provinces (Table 8).TheCMAs with the highest rates of opioid-related offences were Lethbridge(124 per 100,000 population) and Kelowna (116), followed by Vancouver (45),Hamilton (37), Abbotsford-Mission (35), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (30) andSt. Catharines-Niagara (30). In terms of opioid-related deaths, Western Canadacontinues to be the most impacted region of the country since 2016, but rateshave begun to increase in other areas as well, notably in Ontario (Special Advisory Committee onthe Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2022).

Similarto the previous year, opioid-related offences were the only specific drug type^Note to experience a significant increase in 2021 compared with 2020. Specifically,police-reported rates of heroin (-32%), ecstasy (-25%), methamphetamine (-20%)and cocaine (-15%) drug offences all decreased. Overall, police-reported ratesof cannabis (35 incidents per 100,000 population), cocaine (35),methamphetamine (30) and opioid-related offences (16) were highest among thespecific drug types (Table 8).

Whilethe rates of these other drug types decreased, the polysubstance nature of theopioid crisis may impact how particular drug offences, namely those related tomethamphetamine and cocaine, are reported, given that only one drug type willbe indicated as the most serious violation for a particular criminal incident.According to data reported byPHACfrom six provinces andterritories, more than half (58%) of accidental opioid toxicity deaths so farin 2021 also involved a stimulant. Of these deaths, 63% involved cocaine, while53% involved methamphetamines. Similarly, 86% of deaths identified as apparentstimulant toxicity deaths also involved an opioid over the same time period.

Forinformation on cannabis-related drug offences, see “Findingsfor other selected police-reported offences in Canada in 2021.”

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Continued increases in offences related to harassing and threateningbehaviours

In2021, Canada saw continued increases in the rates of various criminallyharassing and threatening behaviours. In particular, criminal harassment (+10%rate per 100,000 population), non-consensual distribution of intimate images (+8%rate), indecent or harassing communications (+4% rate), and uttering threats (+3%rate) all saw increases compared with 2020 (Table 3). These crimes have generally beenincreasing since around 2017, and notably throughout the pandemic period (Chart8).

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In addition to legislative amendments and new offences thatcame into force in 2015 by the former Bill-C13 “Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act,”^{Note Note}the national increases in harassingand threatening offences can be attributed, in part, to increases in the accessibilityand use of the Internet and social media. In the context of the COVID-19pandemic, individuals are using computers and the Internet more often forschool, work and socializing, potentially affording more opportunities forcriminal violations that do not require a physical presence. For instance, in 2021, there were almost 15,500cybercrime-related harassing and threatening behaviour violations, up 1% from 2020,and up 21% from 2019.^Note The perceived anonymity of theInternet and social media can facilitate criminal harassment, uttering threatsand indecent and harassing behaviours (Dhillon 2012;Perrin 2018). Inaddition, advancements in cell phone technology and the availability ofcloud-based sharing platforms could have contributed to the increases seen inthe non-consensual distribution of intimate images. Increased focus on theenforcement and reporting accuracy of cybercrime, and increased awareness ofcybercrime by both the public and police may have also contributed to thechange.

Additionally,some police services have indicated that incidents of extortion involvingintimate images or video—“sextortion”— are on the rise in their jurisdictions,especially in light of increased internet usage for work, school and leisure.More generally, extortion is a relatively serious violent crime which involvesobtaining anything through coercion (the use of or threat of violence,accusation or menace). The rate of police-reported extortion increased 32% from2019 to 2020, and 19% from 2020 to 2021. The rate of extortion has generallybeen increasing over the last 10 years, up 297% from 2011. According to theCanadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the nature of extortion has been shifting in thedigital world, including the use of hostage-taking scams, ransomware,sextortion and various other digital and electronic scams (CAFC 2022). Over the course ofthe pandemic, the number of cyber-related extortion offences increased, up 78%from 2019 to 2020, and 18% from 2020 to 2021.

Police-reported fraud stable during the pandemic

Therate of police-reported total fraud was stable during the first two years ofthe pandemic. After remaining stable at 443 incidents per 100,000 population in2019 and 2020, the rate dropped less than 1% to 441 incidents in 2021. Thisrate was 74% higher than the rate reported a decade ago (Chart 9).^Note The general stability was the result ofsmall shifts in the three fraud subtypes: a 1% decline in general fraud, themost voluminous type of fraud, as well as a 3% decline in identity theft,offset by a 3% increase in identity fraud.^Note

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New or evolving scams continue to draw theattention of the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC) and the news media,particularly those involving tax returns with the Canada Revenue Agency, COVID-19-relatedscams including Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) scams, fake vaccinesand fake test results, as well as other general online, telephone or textmessage scams (CAFC 2022).A survey on cyber security during the pandemic showed that just over 4 in 10Canadians (42%) experienced at least one type of cyber security incident sincethe beginning of the pandemic, including phishing attacks, malware, fraud, andhacked accounts (StatisticsCanada 2020a). Of those who experienced a cyber securityincident, less than one-third (29%) reported the incident to a relevant serviceprovider, financial institution or credit card company, and just 5% ofindividuals reported the incident to an authority such as the police. Accordingto the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, from March 2020 to March 2022, there were 29,513victims and $8.17 million lost due to COVID-related fraud alone.

While fraud overall was fairly stablethroughout the pandemic, incidents of reported cyber-related fraud increasedsubstantially. From 2019 to 2020, the total number of cyber-related fraudviolations increased 41%, and rose another 13% from 2020 to 2021. In total,there were nearly 40,000 incidents of cyber-related fraud in 2021.

As is the case for many types of crime,self-reported data suggest incidents of fraud are significantly underreportedto police. In particular, according to the 2019 General Social Survey onVictimization, over 5.2 million Canadians aged 15 and older reported havingbeen a victim of fraud in the 5 years preceding the survey. Of those victims,11% reported the incident of fraud to the police.

Whilefraud is not an especially severe crime in theCSI, it is a relativelyhigh-volume crime, which contributed to making fraud, typically general fraud,a common driver of theCSIand Non-ViolentCSIin severaljurisdictions in Canada. For the second year in a row, Western Canada, thePrairies and Ontario reported decreases in the rate of total fraud, whileQuebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island reported consecutive increases (Table 5). Totalfraud decreased in 20 of 35CMAs in 2021 (Table 7).

Increase in rates ofviolent and non-violent Criminal Codefirearmoffences for seventh consecutive year

TheCriminal Codespecifiesa number of violent offences involving the use of a firearm, includingdischarging a firearm with intent, pointing a firearm and using a firearm inthe commission of an indictable offence.^Note Amongthese offences specified in theCriminalCode that were reported by police, 46% in 2021 were fordischarging a firearm with intent, while another 39% were for pointing afirearm. The remaining 15% were for using a firearm in the commission of anindictable offence. The number of violent offences specific to firearmsincreased by 194 incidents in 2021 (from 4,187 in 2020 to 4,381 in 2021), resultingin a 4% rate increase (Table3). This marks the seventh consecutive annual increase. The ratesof discharging a firearm with intent (+8%) and using a firearm in thecommission of an indictable offence (+3%) increased, while the rate remainedstable for pointing of a firearm. Much of the increase in firearm-relatedoffences in 2021 was the result of more incidents in Quebec (+128) and Manitoba(+78), while there were fewer incidents in Ontario (-71).

Inaddition to the violent offences involving a firearm specified in the CriminalCode, other more serious crimes such as homicide, robbery, assault andsexual assault may have also involved a firearm. Tomeasure all violent firearm-related crime, information on the incidentcharacteristics must be used. In 2021, there were 8,047 victims of violentcrime where a firearm was present during the commission of the offence, or arate of 27 per 100,000 population.^Note This rate was 5% lower compared with 2020.Despite this year-over-year decline, the rate of firearm-related violent crimehas generally been increasing since 2013, when it was at its lowest point sincecomparable data became available.^Note

Therate of non-violent weapons violations (e.g., possession of weapons and unsafestorage of firearms) increased 2% from 51 incidents per 100,000 population in2020 to 52 incidents in 2021, increasing for the seventh consecutive year (Table 3). The vastmajority (91%) of these violations were related to possession of weaponsoffences and breach offences for weapons possession contrary to an order.

Fordetailed information on firearm-related violent crime in Canada, see Allen 2022.

National homicide rate increases for third year in a row

In 2021, policereported 788 homicides, 29 more than the previous year. The national homiciderate increased 3% from 2.00homicides per 100,000 population in 2020, to 2.06homicides per 100,000 population in 2021. This follows a 9% increase in 2020.Overall, homicides represented 0.2% of all violent crimes, a similar proportionto previous years (Table 3;Chart 10; data table35-10-0068-01).

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Overall, theincrease in the national number of homicides was the result of more homicidesin Ontario (+37 homicides, which follows two years of decreases) and BritishColumbia (+25 homicides). In contrast, Alberta (-23 homicides, which followstwo years of increases) and Nova Scotia (-14 homicides, which follows a largeincrease in 2020 as a result of the mass shooting that occurred in theprovince)^Note recorded relatively largedecreases. As has been the case with provincial comparisons historically, rateswere highest in Saskatchewan (5.93 homicides per 100,000 population) andManitoba (4.41). A high rate was also observed in Yukon (9.31 homicides per100,000 population) and Nunavut (5.08), while there was one homicide reportedin the Northwest Territories in 2021. The relatively small population counts inthe Territories typically translate to higher and more variable rates (Table 5; data table35-10-0068-01).

In 2021, Regina(5.67 homicides per 100,000 population), Thunder Bay (5.63) and Winnipeg (5.39)recorded the highest homicide rates among CMAs (Table 7). Trois-Rivières and Guelph werethe onlyCMAs with no homicides in 2021.

With 117homicides, Toronto, Canada’s most populousCMA, had the most homicides in2021, but the 16^thhighest rate. Toronto’s rate rose 11% as aresult of 12 more homicides. Among theCMAs, Vancouver (+14 homicides),Toronto (+12) and London (+8) reported the largest increases in the number ofhomicides from 2020 to 2021.

Rate of Indigenous victims of homicide decreases in 2021, but remainsdisproportionately high

In2021, there were 190 Indigenous victims of homicide,^Note a decrease from 208 in 2020. This represents a rate decrease of 11% forIndigenous peoples in 2021 (9.17 per 100,000 Indigenous peoples in 2021compared to 10.28 in 2020). This rate was approximately six times higher thanthe rate for non-Indigenous people in 2021 (1.55 per 100,000 non-Indigenous people).^Note Of the 190 Indigenous victims of homicide,65% were identified by police as First Nations people, 6% as Métis and 5% asInuk (Inuit). For an additional 24% of Indigenous victims of homicide, theIndigenous group to which they belonged was not identified. For moreinformation on Indigenous victims of homicide, see data table35-10-0156-01.

Thenumber of female Indigenous victims increased from 42 to 45, while the numberof male victims fell by 21 (from 166 to 145).Thehighest rate of homicide was among Indigenous males (14.13 homicides per100,000 population), followed by Indigenous females (4.31 per 100,000population) and non-Indigenous males (2.30 per 100,000 population). Homiciderates were lowest among non-Indigenous females (0.80 per 100,000 population),in line with previous years.

Historical and ongoing impacts of colonization, including for example the lasting effects of the residential school system (the last of which closed in 1996), forced relocation and the Sixties Scoop, is identified as having profoundly impacted Indigenous communities and families (Bombay et al. 2014;Bombayet al. 2011; Bombayet al. 2009;MMIWG2019;The Truth and ReconciliationCommission of Canada 2015). Indigenous people often experience social, economic and institutional marginalization, and systemic racism and discrimination, which include various forms of trauma and violence—including intergenerational trauma and gender-based violence. As a result, many Indigenous people experience challenging social and economic circ*mstances (Arriagada et al. 2020;MMIWG2019;Statistics Canada 2020b;The Truth and ReconciliationCommission of Canada 2015). These factors play a significant role in theoverrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and asvictims of crime (OntarioHuman Rights Commission 2003;House of Commons 2018).

Formore information on homicide victims by age group, gender and Indigenousidentity, see data tables35-10-0156-01 and35-10-0060-01.

Almost one-third of homicide victims were identified by police as personsdesignated as racialized

Of the 762 victims of homicide in 2021 forwhom information was available, almost one-third (32%) or 247 victims wereidentified by police as persons of a population group designated as racialized.^Note The rate of homicide for racialized persons was higher than the previous year,increasing 34% from 1.87 victims per 100,000 population in 2020 to 2.51 victimsin 2021. In 2021, the rate of homicide among racialized victims was higher thanvictims among the rest of the population (1.81). Almost half(49%) of racialized victims were identified by police as Black,^Note and a further 19% were identified as South Asian.^Note

In2021, there were 46 female homicide victims who were designated as racialized,an increase of 27 victims from 2020. Among male victims, there were 199 racializedvictims compared with 158 in 2020, an increase of 41 victims. Consequently, thehomicide rates for these populations also increased year-over-year. For racializedfemale victims, the homicide rate was 0.92 victims per 100,000 population, anincrease of 137% from 2020 (0.39). Notably, even with the large year-over-yearincrease, this rate is much lower than the national homicide rate of 2.06 per100,000.^Note Among racializedmales, the 2021 homicide rate was 4.10 victims per 100,000, a 23% increase from2020.

Thehomicide rate for racialized males was more than one and a half times higherthan that of males of the rest of the population in 2021 (4.10 victims per100,000 racialized males compared with 2.59 male victims from the rest of thepopulation). For females, the opposite was true—in 2021, racialized females hada lower homicide rate than their female counterparts (0.92 victims per 100,000 populationcompared with 1.03 population), and both lower than the national average of2.06. Caution should be used when interpreting rates among racialized populationsbecause the relatively small population counts typically translate to moreunstable rates.

Ofthe 604 accused persons for whom police reported a racialized identity in 2021,police reported 33% as belonging to a group designated as racialized.^Note

Formore information on homicide victims by gender, racialized identity andpopulation group, see data tables 35-10-0208-01 and 35-10-0206-01.

A detailedanalytical Juristat on Homicide in Canada for the year 2021 will bereleased in late 2022.

Four in ten homicides are firearm-related

In2021, 41% of all homicides were firearm-related, similar to the proportion seenin 2020 (39%).^Note

Thefirearm was recovered in 29% of firearm-related homicides (84 of 287firearm-related homicides).^Note Of those wherethe firearm was recovered, 69% were sent for tracing by police services.^Note While both the RCMP and the Ontario Provincial Police provide firearm tracingsupport to law enforcement agencies when the information is required to supporta criminal investigation or a prosecution, no province currently requires thatinvestigators send all crime guns for tracing. For 57% of the 54 firearms sentfor tracing in 2021, the origin was unknown, meaning they had either not yetreceived the results or the trace was unsuccessful. Another 27.8% originatedfrom Canada, 11.1% from the United States and 3.7% from other countries.

Of the 297 firearm-related homicides that occurred in 2021, almosthalf (46% or 137 homicides) were considered by police to be gang-related.

Rate of gang-related homicide highest since data collection began in 2005

Nationally, there were 184 gang-related homicides in 2021, 33 morethan in 2020. The majority (74%) were committed with a firearm, most often ahandgun (65%). In 2021, gang-related homicide committed with a firearmrepresented 17% of all homicides, a larger proportion than in 2020 (14%).Overall, gang-related homicides continued to account for about one-quarter(23%) of all homicides and marked the highest rate (0.48 per 100,000population) recorded in Canada since comparable data were first collected in2005. For more information on gang-related homicide, see data table 35-10-0075-01.

Findings for other selected police-reported offences in Canada in 2021

Each yearthere are over 2 million criminal offences reported by police in Canada. Dependingon the relative volume or severity of an offence, it may not be consideredamong the primary contributors to changes in crime in a given year. Some crimesmay be important from a public policy or safety perspective, despite not necessarilyhaving a considerable impact on annual changes in crime. This section providesinformation for the year 2021 for selected criminal offences and, wherepossible, includes links to detailed analytical articles that have previouslybeen published by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community SafetyStatistics.

Human trafficking stable in 2021

Traffickingin persons, also known as human trafficking, involves recruiting, transporting,transferring, receiving, holding, concealing or harbouring a person, orexercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, forthe purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation (Criminal Code1985). Victims tend to disproportionately come from vulnerable ormarginalized populations, mostly young women or children, and due to the hiddennature of human trafficking, the true scope is underestimated (Public Safety Canada 2019; Department of Justice Canada 2015).

In 2021,there was a combined total of 552 incidents of human trafficking offencesreported under theCriminalCode (352incidents) and theImmigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)(200 incidents) (Table 3).^Note This was essentially the same as in 2020, when 553 incidents were reported.Overall, the combined number of incidents and rate of human trafficking hasbeen on an upward trend since 2011. Historically, human trafficking incidentstend to occur in urban centres, notably in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal andHalifax.

For detailedinformation on human trafficking over time—including discussion of incidentcharacteristics, victims and accused persons—in Canada, see Conroy and Sutton 2022.

Child sexual exploitation and abuse increased in 2021

While manypolice-reported crimes declined during the pandemic, the rate ofpolice-reported child p*rnography^Note increased 31% from 2019to 2021, to a rate of 31 incidents per 100,000 population.^Note This follows a 47% increase in 2019 and the rate has generally been trendingupward since 2008. Overall, there were 11,790 incidents of child p*rnographyreported by police in 2021 (Table 3).Similarly, sexual violations against children^Note have also increasedthroughout the pandemic, including a 14% rise in 2021. The combined rate ofsexual violations against children was 32 incidents per 100,000 population in2021.

Formany child sexual exploitation and abuse violations, the incidents that occurare committed online as cybercrimes. For instance, 61% of incidents of childp*rnography and 20% of sexual violations against children were recorded ascybercrimes.^Note The pandemic has potentiallyexacerbated issues related to cybercrimes for these offences as children havebeen more likely to be staying at home and individuals are more likely to usethe internet to engage with others.

For adetailed discussion of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Canada,see Ibrahim 2022b. For a detailed discussion of importantcontext related to the reporting of child p*rnography incidents, see section “Continuedincrease in rate of police-reported child p*rnography” in Moreau 2021.

Cannabis offences in 2021

Nationally,the total rate of police-reported cannabis offences under theCannabis ActandControlled Drugs and Substances Actincreasedfor the first time in 9 years, rising 5% in 2021 (Table8 and Table 9).^Note Previously, a general decrease in cannabis-related offences had been compoundedby the legalization of cannabis on October 17, 2018. TheCannabis Actprovides alegal framework for the legalization and regulation of the production,distribution, sale, possession, importation and exportation of cannabis inCanada (Parliament ofCanada 2018).

Policereported a total of 13,560 cannabis-related incidents, representing a rate of35 incidents per 100,000 population. The most commonly reported offences wererelated to importation or exportation (66% of allCannabis Actoffences),possession (9%), and distribution (8%) (Table 9).

The increasein police-reported cannabis offences was almost entirely the result of moreimportation and exportation offences, mainly in British Columbia and Quebec.Case processing and investigation procedures for these offences in particularimpact police-reported metrics.^Note Excluding importation andexportation offences, the national rate of other cannabis offences decreased 11%in 2021.

Impaired driving decreased in 2021

Policereported just under 71,500 impaired driving incidents in 2021, about 6,300 fewerincidents compared to the year before (Table 3 and Table 5).This is the second decrease in a row, following a large rate increase in 2019.^Note Most jurisdictions reported a decrease in the rate of impaired driving, exceptfor Ontario (+7%) and the Northwest Territories (+3) (Table 5). Overall, the police-reported rate ofimpaired driving in Canada dropped 9% to 187 incidents per 100,000 population.

The majority(78%) of police-reported impaired driving incidents continued to involvealcohol in 2021, however this proportion has been declining in recent years, asa growing proportion of incidents involved drugs (11%), or involved acombination of alcohol and drugs (8%).

The rate ofall drug-impaired driving was stable at 20 incidents per 100,000 populationbetween 2020 and 2021, following 7 years of increases. In total, there were 7,690drug-impaired driving violations in 2021, 69 more than the previous year (Table 3).

For moredetailed information on the potential impact of legislative changes,technological and procedural changes, and other context impactingpolice-reported impaired driving in Canada, refer toMoreau 2021 and Perreault 2021.

Police-reported youth crime

While overallcrime statistics are based on the number of criminal incidents reported bypolice (regardless of whether or not an accused was identified), measures ofpolice-reported youth crime are based on the number of youth, aged 12 to 17,accused in a criminal incident by police.^{Note Note} The number of youth accused includes youth whowere either charged, or recommended for charge, as well as those who werecleared by other means, including those diverted from the formal criminaljustice system through the use of warnings, cautions, referrals to communityprograms and other diversion programs.

In 2021, therewere 53,688 youth accused of a Criminal Code offence (excluding traffic),nearly 1,000 fewer than the previous year. The youth crime rate dropped 3% in2021 and has been on a long downward trend, declining for over two decadesafter peaking in 1991 (Table10;Table11). The rate of youth accused of violent crime increased 6% in2021, while the rate of youth accused in other major categories of crime(property crime, other Criminal Code offences, drug crime, other federalstatute violations and Criminal Code traffic violations) all decreased. Whilethe youth crime rate increased, the Violent CSI decreased 4%, meaning that therelative severity of violent crime decreased, despite the volume of violentcrime going up. Between 2011 and 2021, the rate of youth accused of crime fell 60%and the YouthCSI(YCSI) – which measures both the volume andseverity of crime involving youth accused (charged and not charged) – fell 50%(Table 12;Chart 11).

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The decline intheYCSIin 2021 was the result of widespread decreases in the ratesof nearly all reported property and some violent violations (Table 10). Most provincesand all three territories experienced decreases in theYCSI, with theexceptions of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Quebec(Table 13). Due totheir small populations and comparatively fewer incident counts, theTerritories are more susceptible to considerable year-over-year fluctuations inboth their Crime Severity Index and crime rates.

Similar toprevious years, the most common criminal offences committed by youth in 2021were level 1 assault (394 accused per 100,000 youth), mischief (309) andadministration of justice violations (197), such as breach of probation andfailure to appear (Table 10).Rates of level 2 assault (166 accused per 100,000 youth), uttering threats (156)and shoplifting of $5,000 or under (115) were also relatively high.

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Summary

Thesecond year of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an unprecedented impacton the economic and social lives of Canadians. As a result of efforts tocontain the spread of the virus, the way people lived, worked and socializedchanged drastically, with many people staying at home for long periods of timeand avoiding public gatherings and businesses adjusting their operations toserve Canadians in new or different ways. At least partially as a result ofthese changes, police-reported crime in Canada dropped throughout the pandemicperiod in general, yet there were important differences for some types ofcrime.

Police-reportedcrime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), was stable inthe second year of the pandemic—changing from 73.9 in 2020 to 73.7 in 2021.This follows a 7% drop in the CSI in 2020, the first after five years ofincreases.

Thestability in the overall CSI was the result of increases in violent crime andcontinued decreases in non-violent crime. The Violent CSI rose 5% in 2021, andwas higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The increase in violent crimeincluded higher rates of level 1 sexual assault, sexual violations against children,assault (level 1 and 2), homicide, extortion, harassing and threateningbehaviours, and violent firearm violations. The Non-violent CSI—which includes, forexample, property offences and drug offences—declined 3%, after a 9% drop in2020. Much of this decline was due to lower rates of breaking and entering(-10%) and theft of $5,000 or under (-4%).

Despitegeneral stability in overall crime in 2021, the number of hate-motivated crimes reported bypolice increased by 27%, rising from 2,646 incidents to 3,360. Higher numbersof hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation and race or ethnicityaccounted for the majority of the increase.

Police reported 788 homicides in 2021, 29 more than the year before. Thehomicide rate increased 3%, from 2.00 homicides per 100,000 population in 2020to 2.06 in 2021. Police reported 190 Indigenous homicide victims in 2021, 18fewer than in 2020. Despite the decline, the homicide rate forIndigenous peoples was about six times higher than for Canada’s non-Indigenouspopulation (9.17 versus 1.55 homicides per 100,000 population). Additionally,there were 247 victims of homicide identified by police as members of apopulation group designated as racialized. The rate of homicide for racializedpersons was up 34% from 1.87 homicides per 100,000 population in 2020 to 2.51homicides in 2021.

Topublish police-reported crime statistics in a timely manner, this articlerelies mostly on aggregate data (totals), which are the first crime dataavailable each calendar year. There will continue to be more detailed analysesof these data and microdata forthcoming to help inform the pandemic situationand Canadian’s safety and wellbeing.

Appendix A – Violations contributing to the change in the Crime SeverityIndex (CSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.

Appendix B – Violations contributing to the change in the Violent CrimeSeverity Index (VCSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.

Appendix C – Violations contributing to the change in the Non-violent CrimeSeverity Index (NVCSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.

Appendix D – Violations contributing to the change in the Crime Severity Index (CSI), by census metropolitan area (CMA), between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.

Appendix E – Trends in the police-reported Crime Severity Index, provincesand territories, Canada, 1998 to 2021.

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Appendix F – Police-reported Crime Severity Index and Violent CrimeSeverity Index, by census metropolitan area, 2021.

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Key terminology and definitions

Incident (orOffence):Acriminal incident involves one or more related offences that are committedduring a single criminal event and have been reported to police. Where thereare multiple victims within a single criminal event, a separate aggregateincident is counted for each victim. For example, a single incident involvingan assault on three victims at the same time and location is counted in theaggregate statistics as three incidents of assault. For an incident to becounted in the crime statistics it must be recorded as “founded” as opposed to“unfounded.” Police services can report up to four violations for each incident,however, for both the traditional crime rate and theCSIare based onthe most serious violation in the criminal incident. For the purposes of thisarticle, offence and incident are used interchangeably.

Most seriousviolation:Individualsaccused of crime are categorized by the most serious violation occurring in thepolice-reported incident in which they are accused. In incidents with multipleaccused involving multiple violations, each individual in the incident will becoded with the most serious violation even if this was not the violation(s)that the person was accused of committing. It is therefore possible that themost serious violation is not the offence for which an individual was accused,but one committed by another accused in the incident. Moreover, in this type ofincident, any charges against the accused may be for less serious offences inthe incident.

Founded:An incident is“founded” if, after police investigation it has been determined that thereported offence did occur or was attempted (even if the charged/suspectchargeable (CSC) [i.e., the accused] is unknown) or there is no credibleevidence to confirm that the reported incidentdid nottake place. This includesthird-party reports that fit these criteria. For the Uniform Crime ReportingSurvey, the concept of a CSC refers to a person against whom there is enoughevidence for police to either lay a charge or recommend to the Crown that acharge be laid. Effective January 1, 2018.

Unfounded:An incident is“unfounded” if it has been determined through police investigation that theoffence reported did not occur, nor was it attempted. Effective January 1,2018.

Censusmetropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA): A CMA or CA is formedby one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known asthe core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which50,000 or more must live in the core. A CA must have a core population of atleast 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, adjacent municipalities musthave a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flowsderived from census data. A CMA or CA may have more than one police service. It is important to note that while official police-reported data on crime from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey use Statistics Canada's standard Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) names, the boundaries for the policing-based CMAs do not always fully align with the standard CMA geographic units used for disseminating information about the Census of Population.

Rural andsmall town area:Rural police services serve a territory where the majority of the populationlives outside a CMA or CA. While small towns that do not qualify as CAs areincluded in this category, the term “rural area” will be used for the sake ofbrevity. Police services are classified “rural” or “urban” based on themajority of the population they serve, rather than on the exact place ofresidence of each Canadian. Consequently, urban residents can be served by apolice service classified as “rural,” and vice versa. In the interest ofconciseness, the terms “rural” (or “rural area”) and “urban” (or “urban area”)are used to designate areas or populations based on the classification of thepolice services that serve them. The definitions of “rural” and “urban” in thisreport may differ from those used in other Statistics Canada reports.

Urban: Urban police servicesserve an area where the majority of the population lives within a CMA or CA.

Violent offences:Involve the use orthreat of violence against a person, including homicide, attempted murder,assault, sexual assault and robbery. Robbery is considered a violent offencebecause, unlike other theft offences, it involves the use or threat ofviolence. SeeTable 3fora list of selected offences in this category.

Homicide:Includes first andsecond degree murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Deaths caused by criminalnegligence, suicide and accidental or justifiable homicide are not included inthis classification.

Gang-relatedhomicide:Ahomicide is classified as gang-related when police confirm or suspect that theaccused person and/or victim involved in the homicide was either a member, or aprospective member, of an organized crime group or street gang or was somehowassociated with an organized crime group or street gang, and the homicide wascarried out as a result of this association. Prior to 2005, police were askedif the homicide was "gang-related". Beginning in 2005, the questionwas amended to give police the option of specifying whether the homicide was:(a) confirmed as gang-related or (b) suspected as being gang-related.

Firearm-relatedviolent crime:Firearm-relatedviolent crime shows the number of victims of violentCriminal Codeoffenceswhere a firearm was fired or used as a threat, and/or where a firearm waspresent and not used but the presence of the firearm was relevant to theincident, according to the police.

Firearm-relatedhomicide:Ahomicide is classified as firearm-related when the weapon used to cause deathis a firearm. Firearms include handguns, rifles or shotguns, fully automaticfirearms, firearm-like weapons (e.g. nail guns or pellet guns) and firearms -type unknown.

Assault (physical):Refers totheCriminal Codecategoriesof physical assault.

• Commonassault:IncludestheCriminal Codecategoryassault (level 1) which includes pushing, slapping, punching and face-to-faceverbal threats.
• Majorassault:IncludesCriminal Codeassaultlevel 2 and 3:
  • Level2–assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm:Involves carrying,using or threatening to use a weapon against a person or causing someone bodilyharm.
  • Level3–aggravated assault:Involves wounding, maiming, disfiguring orendangering the life of a person.
• Otherassaults:Includesother forms of physical assault, including assault against a peace officer,unlawfully causing bodily harm, discharging a firearm with intent, using afirearm or an imitation of a firearm in commission of offence, pointing afirearm, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, trap likely to or causingbodily harm, and less common other assaults “of hoax terrorism causing bodilyharm (Criminal Codes.83),” “bodily harm resulting from failure to safeguard an opening in ice or onland (s. 263)” and “otherwise unlawfully causing bodily harm (s. 269).”

Sexual assault:Is classified bylevel in theCriminalCodeinto three separate categories—depending on the natureand severity of the incident—including level 1, assault of a sexual nature thatviolates the sexual integrity of the victim; level 2, sexual assault with aweapon or causing bodily harm involves sexual assault with a weapon, threats touse a weapon or causing bodily harm; and level 3, aggravated sexual assaultinvolves sexual assault that wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life ofthe victim.

Sexual violationsagainst children:IncludeCriminal Codeviolationsthat specifically concern offences involving child and youth victims. Theseinclude sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexualexploitation, making sexually explicit material available to children for thepurpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth, luring a childvia telecommunications or the agreement/arrangement by means oftelecommunication to commit a sexual offence against a child. As of December2014, also includes the offences of parent or guardian procuring sexualactivity (Criminal Code,s. 170) and householder permitting prohibited sexual activity (Criminal Code, s. 171). A“householder” is any “owner, occupier or manager of premises, or any otherperson who has control of premises or assists in the management or control ofpremises” (Criminal Code,s.171). Incidents of child p*rnography are not included in the category of sexualviolations against children. Excludes incidents of sexual assault level 1, 2and 3 against children and youth which are counted within those three violationcategories.

Other sexualoffences:notinvolving sexual assault or sexual violations against children are includedwith “other violent offences.”

Non-violentoffences: Includeproperty offences and otherCriminalCodeoffences, as well asCriminal Codetraffic offences,drug-related offences and violations of other federal statutes.

Property offences:Involve unlawfulacts to gain property, but do not involve the use or threat of violence againstthe person. They include offences such as break and enter, theft and mischief.SeeTable 3for a list of selected offences in thiscategory.

Fraud, IdentityTheft and Identity Fraud: Broadly, fraud is an offence by which a person defraudsthe public or any person of any property, money or valuable security or service(Criminal Code s. 380). Identity theft is an offence by which a personobtains or possesses another person’s identity information with intent to useit to commit an indictable offence (s. 402.2). Identity fraud is an offence bywhich a person fraudulently personates another person, with intent to gainadvantage, property, cause disadvantage or to avoid arrest or prosecution or toobstruct justice (s. 403).

“Other” Criminal Codeoffences: Include crimes such asdisturbing the peace and offences against the administration of justice (e.g.,failure to comply with an order, failure to appear and breach of probation).

Drug-relatedoffences:Includeoffences under theControlledDrugs and Substances Actsuch as possession, trafficking,production, importation and exportation of drugs or narcotics. Examples includecannabis (prior to the enactment of theCannabisActon October17, 2018), cocaine, heroin and other drugs such as methamphetamine (crystalmeth), PCP, LSD and ecstasy. Also includes cannabis-related offences undertheCannabis Act,and beginning in November 2017, violations specific to opioids (excludingheroin but including fentanyl).

Other federal statuteviolations:Includeviolations of federal statutes other than theCriminal Codeand theControlled Drugs and Substances Act.These include violations of theYouthCriminal Justice Act.

Detailed data tables

Table1 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table2 Police-reported crime rate, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table3 Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table4 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2021

Table5 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by province or territory, 2021

Table6 Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded, selected offences, Canada, 2019 to 2021

Table7 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Table8 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, by province or territory, 2021

Table9 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table10 Police-reported youth crime for selected offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table11 Youth accused of police-reported crime, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table12 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table13 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2021

Table14 Police-reported crime rate, by province or territory, 2021

Table15 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Table16 Police-reported crime rate, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Survey description

Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

The UniformCrime Reporting (UCR) Survey was established in 1962 with the co-operation andassistance of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.TheUCRwas designed to measure criminal incidents that have beenreported to federal, provincial/territorial and municipal police services in Canada.

One incidentcan involve multiple offences. In order to ensure comparability, countspresented in this article are based on the most serious offence in the incidentas determined by a standard classification rule used by all police services.Counts based on all violations are available upon request.

Each year,theUCRdatabase is “frozen” at the end of May for the production ofcrime statistics for the preceding calendar year. However, police servicescontinue to send updated data to Statistics Canada after this date forincidents that occurred in previous years. Generally, these revisionsconstitute new accused records, as incidents are solvedand accused persons are identified by police. Some new incidents, however, maybe added and previously reported incidents may be deleted as new informationbecomes known.

Revisionsare accepted for a one-year period after the data are initially released. Forexample, when the 2021 crime statistics are released, the 2020 data are updatedwith any revisions that have been made between May 2021 and May 2022. The dataare revised only once and are then permanently frozen. Over the past 10 years(2012 to 2021), data corresponding to previous years have been revised upward9 times and revised downward 1 time, with an average annual revision of0.33%. The 2020 revision to counts of persons charged and youth not chargedresulted in a 0.8% increase to 2020 counts.

Measuring incidents of crime

Data fromtheUCRare used to calculate both the traditional crime rate and theCrime Severity Index (CSI). The traditional crime rate andtheCSIare based on the aggregate count of criminal incidents. Acriminal incident involves one or more related offences that are committedduring a single criminal event and have been reported to police. Where thereare multiple victims within a single criminal event, a separate aggregateincident is counted for each victim. For example, a single incident involvingan assault on three victims at the same time and location is counted in theaggregate statistics as three incidents of assault. For an incident to becounted in the crime statistics it must be recorded as “founded” as opposed to“unfounded.” An incident is “founded” if, after police investigation it hasbeen determined that the reported offence did occur or was attempted or thereis no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not takeplace. This includes third-party reports that fit these criteria.

Police servicescan report up to four violations for each incident; however, this has typicallyonly been the practice since the late 1980s and not for all police services.Therefore, both the traditional crime rate and theCSIare based onthe most serious violation in the criminal incident. By basing the measures onthe most serious offence in an incident, it allows for historical comparisons,as well as better comparisons among police services.

It is possible,however, that by counting only the most serious violation, some offences may beunder-represented. This has little or no effect on serious violent offencessuch as homicide, sexual assault and aggravated assault; however, some—but notall—minor offences are less likely to be the most serious violation when theyare occurring at the same time as other more serious violations. Thesesecondary offences, therefore, are not included in the calculation of aggregatestatistics, the crime rate and theCSI.

To publish themost timely police-reported crime statistics, this article relies on aggregatedata (totals), which are the first crime data available each calendar year.More detailed data on the characteristics of incidents, victims and accusedpersons will be available following the release of this article, and data willbe accessible for custom requests or possible inclusion in future editionsofJuristat.

For moreinformation on counting crime in Canada, seeMeasuring Crime in Canada: Introducing the Crime SeverityIndex and Improvements to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (Wallace et al. 2009),The Methodology of the Police-reportedCrime Severity Index(Babyak et al. 2009), andUpdating the Police-Reported CrimeSeverity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights (Cormack and Tabuchi 2020).

Crime rate

The traditionalcrime rate has been used to measure police-reported crime in Canada since 1962,and it is generally expressed as a rate per 100,000 population. The crime rateis calculated by summing allCriminalCodeincidents reported by the police and dividing by thepopulation count. The crime rate excludesCriminal Codetraffic violations, as wellas other federal statute violations such as drug offences.

To calculatethe traditional police-reported crime rate, all offences are counted equally,regardless of their severity. For example, one incident of homicide is countedas equivalent to one incident of theft. As such, one limitation of thetraditional crime rate is that it can easily fluctuate as a result ofvariations in higher volume but less serious offences, such as theft of $5,000or under and mischief. In other words, a large decline in common but lessserious violations may cause the police-reported crime rate to decrease evenwhen the number of more serious but lower volume offences, such as homicide androbbery, increased.

In addition tothe overall crime rate, rates are calculated for violent crime, property crimeand otherCriminal Codeoffences.Further, the rates of youth who have either been charged by police or dealtwith through the use of extrajudicial measures are available for all crimecategories.

Crime Severity Index

TheCSIwasdeveloped to address the limitation of the police-reported crime rate beingdriven by high-volume, but relatively less serious, offences.TheCSInot only takes into account the volume of crime, but also therelative severity of crime. As such, theCSIwill vary when changesin either the volume of crime or the average severity of crime—or both thevolume and the average severity—are recorded.

In order tocalculate the police-reportedCSI, each violation is assigned aweight.CSIweights are based on the violation’s incarceration rate,as well as the average length of prison sentence handed down by criminalcourts.^Note Themore serious the average sentence, the higher the weight assigned to theoffence, meaning that the more serious offences have a greater impact ontheCSI. Unlike the traditional crime rate, all offences, includingCriminal Codetrafficviolations and other federal statute violations such as drug offences, areincluded in theCSI.

To calculatetheCSI, the weighted offences are summed and then divided by thepopulation. Similar to other indexes (e.g., Consumer Price Index), to allow forease of comparison, theCSIis then standardized to a base year of“100” (for theCSI, the base year is 2006). AllCSIvalues arerelative to the Canada-levelCSIfor 2006.CSIvalues areavailable back to 1998.

In addition tothe overallCSI, both a ViolentCSI(VCSI) and aNon-violentCSI(NVCSI) have been created, which—like theoverallCSI—are available back to 1998. TheVCSIis comprised ofall police-reported violent violations, and theNVCSIis comprised ofall police-reported property violations, otherCriminal Codeviolations, Criminal Codetrafficviolations, and other federal statute violations. All typesofCSImeasures are also available for youth who have been accused ofa crime (charged and not charged).

To adjust tochanges in sentencing patterns from the courts, and amendments to theCriminal Codeand otherfederal statutes, the weights are updated every five years. The most recentupdate was carried out in 2018 and applies to 2019 revised and 2020 datapresented in this article.

For moreinformation on theCSI, seeMeasuringCrime in Canada: Introducing the Crime Severity Index and Improvements to theUniform Crime Reporting Survey (Wallace et al. 2009), The Methodology of the Police-reportedCrime Severity Index(Babyak et al. 2009), Updating the Police-Reported CrimeSeverity Index Weights: Refinements to the Methodology (Babyak et al. 2013), Updating the Police-Reported CrimeSeverity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights (Cormack and Tabuchi 2020),and theMeasuring Crimein Canada: A detailed look at the Crime Severity Indexvideo (Statistics Canada 2016).

References

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