Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2021

by Greg Moreau, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics

Release date: August 2, 2022 Correction date: August 3, 2022

Correction Notice

A correction has been made to the percentage (%) change in rate of theft under $5,000 in Prince Edward Island (PEI) for 2021.

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Highlights

  • In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have profound impacts on Canada’s economy, health care system and society in general. Policies enacted to contain the spread of the virus resulted in unprecedented disruptions in the social and economic lives of Canadians, changing how we interact, socialize, learn, work and consume.
  • There were over 2 million police-reported Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) in 2021, about 25,500 more incidents than in 2020. At 5,375 incidents per 100,000 population, the police-reported crime rate—which measures the volume of crime—increased 1% in 2021, following a 9% decrease in 2020. In 2021, the violent crime rate increased 5%, while the property crime rate decreased 1%. Following a large decrease in 2020, the property crime rate was the lowest it has been dating back to 1965.
  • Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), remained stable, changing from 73.9 in 2020 to 73.7 in 2021. This follows a 7% drop in the CSI in 2020, the first after 5 years of increases. The stability in the overall CSI was the result of increases in violent crime and continued decreases in non-violent crime. The CSI measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, and it has a base index value of 100 for 2006.
  • The Violent CSI rose 5% in 2021, and was higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The increase was primarily driven by a relatively large rise in the rate of level 1 sexual assault (+18%). Various other violent crimes also increased in volume in 2021, however they had a more marginal impact on the CSI. The rise in level 1 sexual assault accounted for 40% of the increase in the Violent CSI. Overall, there were 34,242 police-reported sexual assaults (level 1, 2 and 3), representing 90 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021.
  • The Non-violent CSI—which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences—declined 3%, after a 9% drop in 2020. Much of this decline was due to lower rates of breaking and entering (-10%) and theft of $5,000 or under (-4%).
  • Nationally, there were 788 homicides, 29 more than the previous year. The national homicide rate increased 3% from 2.00 homicides per 100,000 population in 2020, to 2.06 homicides per 100,000 population in 2021. Police-reported 190 Indigenous victims of homicide, 18 fewer than in 2020. Despite the decrease, the rate of homicide for Indigenous peoples (9.17 per 100,000 population) was approximately 6 times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous people (1.55 per 100,000 population). The rate of homicide for individuals identified by police as persons of a group designated as racialized increased 34% in 2021 to 2.51 homicides per 100,000 population. This rate was higher than for victims identified as belonging to the rest of the population (1.81 homicides per 100,000 population).
  • In 2021, four in ten (41%) homicides were firearm-related. The firearm was recovered in 29% of firearm-related homicides. Of the 297 firearm-related homicides that occurred in 2021, almost half (46%) were considered by police to be gang-related.
  • The number of police-reported hate crimes increased 27% to 3,360 incidents in 2021. Compared with 2019, hate crimes have increased 72% over the last two years. More hate crimes targeting religion (+67%) (including Jewish, Muslim and Catholic) and sexual orientation (+64%) accounted for most of the national change, along with more incidents targeting race or ethnicity (+6%).
  • In 2021, there were 5,996 opioid-related offences in Canada, representing a rate of 16 per 100,000 population, a 13% increase compared with 2020. Police-reported rates of heroin (-32%), ecstasy (-25%), methamphetamine (-20%) and cocaine-related drug offences (-15%) all decreased. Additionally, rates of impaired driving dropped 9% compared with 2020.
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Since 1962, Statistics Canada has collected information on all criminal incidents reported by Canadian police services through its annual Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey.Note   In addition to the UCR, Statistics Canada also collects information on self-reported criminal victimization through the General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), which is conducted every five years. Unlike the UCR, the GSS on Victimization collects self-reported data which includes incidents that may not have been brought to the attention of the police. These complementary surveys provide a more complete picture of crime and victimization in Canada.

This Juristat article presents findings from the 2021 UCR Survey to provide information on police-reported crime across Canada and over time.Note  To publish police-reported crime statistics in a timely manner, this article relies mostly on aggregate data (totals), which are the first crime data available each calendar year. To inform some community safety issues which are particularly relevant to the pandemic, such as family violence and hate crime, this article also draws on detailed disaggregated data on the characteristics of incidents, victims and accused persons. These disaggregated data will also be available for custom requests and will be included in future analytical products.Note  Crime counts presented in the article are based on the most serious violation in a criminal incident (see Key terminology and definitions).

This article first provides an overview of important context surrounding crime in Canada given the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. This is followed by an analysis of key statistical trends in crime reported by police in 2021, including the volume and severity of crime, and the offences driving these trends. It then briefly explores other selected violation types that may have contributed to recent crime 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 publication provides a general summary of police-reported crime in Canada in 2021, laying groundwork for future detailed data analysis.

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

Police-reported crime statistics reflect only those incidents that are reported to the police, which can be affected by large-scale criminal events, social movements and changes in legislation, policies and procedures (see Text box 1).

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have profound impacts on Canada’s economy, health care system and society in general throughout 2021. Early in the first year of the pandemic, policies enacted to contain the spread of the virus resulted in unprecedented disruptions in the social and economic lives of Canadians, changing how we interact, socialize, learn, work and consume. The pandemic continued to impact Canadians, but perhaps in a different way, as restrictions began to lift across the country. The pandemic has also had major social and economic impacts on Canadians, some of which were short-term changes as an acute response to the ongoing situation, and some of which are longer-term. Crime trends reflect these evolving circumstances in 2021. Information on the broader social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on Statistics Canada’s COVID-19 hub.

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

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Text box 1
Factors influencing police-reported crime

There are many factors that influence police-reported crime statistics. First, an incident must come to the attention of police. The decision by an individual to report a criminal incident to police has a considerable impact on the number of crimes ultimately recorded by police. The 2019 General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), which provides information on the crime reporting behaviour of Canadians aged 15 and older for selected offences, indicated that about one-third (29%) of crimes are reported to police (Cotter 2021) (see Text box 3 for more information on self-reported and police-reported data).

Second, differences between individual police services—such as available resources or departmental priorities, policies and procedures—can also have an effect on police-reported crime. For instance, as a crime prevention measure, some police services have implemented initiatives to focus attention on prolific or repeat offenders within the community. Moreover, certain crimes such as impaired driving and drug offences can be significantly affected by enforcement practices, with some police services devoting more resources to these specific types of crime. Some police services may also rely on municipal bylaws or provincial statutes to respond to minor offences such as mischief and disturbing the peace. For detailed information on police resources in Canada for the year 2021, see Statistics Canada 2022a.

Third, and more broadly, social and economic factors can influence the volume of police-reported crime at a national, regional, municipal or neighbourhood level. In particular, crime rates can be affected by changes in age demographics (Britt 2019Loeber et al. 2015), economic conditions (Wilson 2018Janko and Popli 2015), neighbourhood characteristics (Ha and Andresen 2017), the emergence of new technologies (Milivelojevic and Radulski 2020Brewer et al. 2018; McGovern 2015) and Canadians’ attitudes toward crime and risky behaviour (Ouimet 2004).

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

Canada’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) was stable in the second year of the pandemic—changing from 73.9 in 2020 to 73.7 in 2021 (Chart 1; Table 1). This follows a 7% drop in the CSI in 2020, the first after five years of increases. The stability in the CSI was predominantly the result of decreases in non-violent crime—such as breaking and entering, and to a lesser extent, decreases in theft of $5,000 or under—offset by increases in violent crime. The Non-violent CSI—which includes all property offences—declined 3%, after a 9% drop in 2020. The overall CSI was 5% lower than a decade earlier in 2011.

Chart 1 start

Chart 1 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 1998 to 2021

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), Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index and Non-violent Crime Severity Index, calculated using Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Crime Severity Index Violent Crime Severity Index Non-violent Crime Severity Index
Index
1998 118.8 97.8 126.9
1999 111.2 99.4 115.8
2000 106.7 97.8 110.2
2001 105.3 97.2 108.4
2002 104.1 96.2 107.2
2003 106.8 97.6 110.4
2004 104.1 96.0 107.2
2005 101.3 98.5 102.4
2006 100.0 100.0 100.0
2007 95.3 97.8 94.3
2008 90.6 95.1 88.9
2009 87.8 94.3 85.3
2010 82.9 89.2 80.5
2011 77.6 85.7 74.5
2012 75.5 82.0 73.0
2013 68.9 74.0 66.9
2014 66.9 70.7 65.4
2015 70.4 75.3 68.4
2016 72.0 76.9 70.1
2017 73.6 81.3 70.7
2018 75.6 83.6 72.6
2019 79.8 90.3 75.8
2020 73.9 88.0 68.7
2021 73.7 92.5 66.7

Chart 1 end

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

In contrast to declines in the Non-violent CSI, there was an increase in the Violent CSI driven by a relatively large increase in the rate of level 1 sexual assault (+18%).Note  Various other violent crimes 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, and violent 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, the value in 2021 was higher than in 2019, and 8% higher than a decade ago.

The CSI measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, and has a base index value of 100 for 2006. The police-reported crime rate, which measures only the volume of crime, was nearly stable, rising 1% from 2020 to 2021 (Table 2). Canadian police services reported just over 2 million Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) in 2021, about 25,500 more than in 2020. The relative stability was mostly the result of counteracting fluctuations in violent crime and property crime. The annual rates of violent crime (+5%) and other (non-property) Criminal Code offences (+2%) increased, while property crime (-1%) decreased for the second year in a row. Additionally, the rate of police-reported drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and the Cannabis Act decreased 9% in 2021 (Table 3).

Although the CSI and the crime rate are separate measures, with the CSI accounting not only for volume but also changes in the relative severity of police-reported crime (see Text box 2), both measures show similar trends in police-reported crime in Canada since 1998 (Chart 2; Chart 1).

Chart 2 start

Chart 2 Police-reported crime rates, Canada, 1962 to 2021

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), Total, Violent crimes, Property crimes and Other crimes, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Total Violent crimes Property crimes Other crimes
rate per 100,000 population
1962 2,771 221 1,891 659
1963 3,022 249 2,047 726
1964 3,245 284 2,146 815
1965 3,199 299 2,091 809
1966 3,511 347 2,258 907
1967 3,850 381 2,484 985
1968 4,336 423 2,826 1,087
1969 4,737 453 3,120 1,164
1970 5,212 481 3,515 1,217
1971 5,311 492 3,649 1,170
1972 5,355 497 3,634 1,224
1973 5,773 524 3,704 1,546
1974 6,388 553 4,151 1,684
1975 6,852 585 4,498 1,769
1976 6,984 584 4,533 1,867
1977 6,971 572 4,466 1,933
1978 7,154 580 4,579 1,995
1979 7,666 610 4,903 2,153
1980 8,343 636 5,444 2,263
1981 8,736 654 5,759 2,322
1982 8,773 671 5,840 2,262
1983 8,470 679 5,608 2,182
1984 8,387 701 5,501 2,185
1985 8,413 735 5,451 2,227
1986 8,727 785 5,550 2,392
1987 8,957 829 5,553 2,575
1988 8,919 868 5,439 2,613
1989 8,892 911 5,289 2,692
1990 9,485 973 5,612 2,900
1991 10,342 1,059 6,160 3,122
1992 10,040 1,084 5,904 3,052
1993 9,538 1,082 5,575 2,881
1994 9,125 1,047 5,257 2,821
1995 9,008 1,009 5,292 2,707
1996 8,932 1,002 5,274 2,656
1997 8,475 993 4,880 2,603
1998 8,093 995 4,569 2,529
1999 7,695 971 4,276 2,449
2000 7,610 996 4,081 2,534
2001 7,592 995 4,004 2,593
2002 7,516 980 3,976 2,560
2003 7,773 978 4,125 2,670
2004 7,601 957 3,976 2,668
2005 7,326 962 3,744 2,620
2006 7,246 968 3,605 2,673
2007 6,908 952 3,335 2,621
2008 6,632 938 3,096 2,598
2009 6,462 926 3,005 2,531
2010 6,160 907 2,802 2,451
2011 5,781 870 2,586 2,325
2012 5,639 843 2,524 2,272
2013 5,207 769 2,348 2,089
2014 5,062 736 2,328 1,998
2015 5,232 755 2,437 2,040
2016 5,298 769 2,490 2,039
2017 5,375 791 2,523 2,060
2018 5,513 819 2,625 2,068
2019 5,877 886 2,733 2,258
2020 5,338 850 2,274 2,214
2021 5,375 890 2,219 2,266

Chart 2 end

Changes in the Crime Severity Index varied across Canada

Across the provinces and territories, there were contrasting annual changes in the CSI, resulting in general stability nationally. Between 2020 and 2021, 6 of Canada’s 10 provinces and Nunavut reported increases in their CSI, while the others reported decreases (Table 4). As has been the case since 1998, the Prairie provinces and British Columbia have had the highest CSIs among the provinces, while the three territories have reported the highest CSIs overall (Chart 3).Note 

Chart 3 start

Chart 3 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by province and territory, 2021

Data table for Chart 3 
Data table for chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 3. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index and Non-violent Crime Severity Index, calculated using Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Crime Severity Index Violent Crime Severity Index Non-violent Crime Severity Index
Index
Canada 73.7 92.5 66.7
N.L. 75.5 97.3 67.5
P.E.I. 57.0 60.0 55.7
N.S. 71.6 94.7 63.1
N.B. 88.5 90.4 87.6
Que. 54.3 83.0 43.9
Ont. 56.2 72.2 50.4
Man. 126.9 182.5 106.6
Sask. 146.8 185.9 132.3
Alta. 101.4 112.4 97.1
B.C. 92.9 95.2 91.8
Y.T. 213.3 268.7 192.8
N.W.T. 391.3 472.7 361.0
Nvt. 384.1 596.1 306.9

Chart 3 end

Among the provinces, Quebec (+5%) and Ontario (+1%) reported increases in their CSIs in 2021 and therefore had the largest mitigating impacts on the change in the CSI. The rise in Canada’s two largest provinces was primarily due to relatively large increases in level 1 sexual assault, as well as an increase in general fraud in Quebec and homicide in Ontario, while there were declines in breaking and entering (Table 5).

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

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

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Text box 2
Measuring police-reported crime with the Crime Severity Index

In Canada, there are two complementary ways to measure police-reported crime: the traditional crime rate and the Crime Severity Index (CSI). The crime rate measures the volume of crime, including all Criminal Code violations (except traffic) relative to the population size. The CSI measures both the volume and severity of crime, and includes all Criminal Code and other federal statute violations. The CSI has a base index value of 100 for 2006. Both the traditional crime rate and the CSI measure crime based on the most serious violation in the criminal incident (see Key terminology and definitions and Survey description for more information on these concepts).

The CSI was developed to address the limitation of the police-reported crime rate being driven by high-volume, but relatively less serious, offences. The CSI not only takes into account the volume of crime, but also the relative severity of crime. As such, the CSI will vary when changes in either the volume of crime or the average severity of crime—or both the volume and the average severity—are recorded. In order to calculate the police-reported CSI, each violation is assigned a weight. CSI weights are based on the violation’s incarceration rate, as well as the average length of prison sentence handed down by criminal courts.Note 

For a summary of the violations driving changes in the crime severity indexes in each province and territory, see Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C. Likewise, for a summary of the violations driving changes in the overall CSI in census metropolitan areas,Note  see Appendix D.

For a series of detailed charts and tables showing trends in the CSI and crime rate in all provinces and territories, see Appendix E and Table 4 and Table 14. For a series of detailed charts and tables showing trends in the CSI and crime rate in CMAs, see Appendix F and Table 15 and Table 16.

The Crime Severity Index in 2021: contributing violations and jurisdictional trends

Typically, analysis of the CSI is focused on annual changes in crime, however it can be helpful to identify the relative impact of offences contributing to the total CSI. Despite fluctuations as a result of the pandemic, breaking and entering, fraud and assault (level 1, 2, 3 and assault against a peace officer) make up much of the national CSI, accounting for 35% of the Index. The proportional distribution of these offences varies, however, across jurisdiction (Chart TB2). Notably, mischief accounts for between 15% and 32% of the CSI in the territories, while breaking and entering and total fraud are comparatively larger contributors among the provinces. Some of the major contributors to the national CSI, breaking and entering (16% of the national CSI), total fraud (12%), theft of $5,000 or under (7%) and sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3) (5%) are also similar to the violations responsible for much of the change in crime between 2020 and 2021 across the country.

Chart text box 2 start

Chart text box 2 Police-reported offences contributing to the Crime Severity Index, percentage contribution, by province or territory, 2021

Data table for Chart text box 2 
Data table for chart text box 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart text box 2. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Canada, N.L., P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Que., Ont., Man., Sask., Alta., B.C., Y.T., N.W.T. and Nvt., calculated using percentage of index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Canada N.L. P.E.I. N.S. N.B. Que. Ont. Man. Sask. Alta. B.C. Y.T. N.W.T. Nvt.
percentage of index
Breaking and entering 15.6 13.4 12.1 12.5 18.1 12.3 15.5 17.2 17.0 19.0 15.7 8.1 7.9 7.4
Total fraudData table for chart tb2 Note 1 11.7 8.5 19.0 14.0 15.0 14.5 14.2 6.9 7.1 9.9 9.9 6.0 2.9 1.3
AssaultData table for chart tb2 Note 2 8.2 8.9 6.0 7.6 7.2 9.1 7.4 11.5 9.9 7.8 6.7 10.9 14.5 15.8
Theft of $5,000 or under 7.4 4.1 7.2 8.5 5.9 4.8 9.2 5.6 5.1 7.1 9.1 4.4 2.5 1.3
Sexual assaultData table for chart tb2 Note 3 5.5 6.0 6.9 5.9 4.8 7.5 6.1 4.5 3.7 4.5 4.2 5.8 5.8 6.5
Mischief 5.3 11.8 6.7 6.0 6.0 2.4 3.2 9.0 8.8 6.0 5.9 15.1 29.6 31.9
Robbery 5.1 3.3 1.4 3.1 1.3 4.5 6.0 9.9 4.1 4.9 4.4 1.5 1.3 0.8
Homicide 3.3 2.6 0.0 4.1 2.0 2.2 3.9 3.5 4.8 3.1 3.0 4.5 0.7 1.7
Other offencesData table for chart tb2 Note 4 38.0 41.5 40.6 38.3 39.8 42.8 34.5 32.0 39.4 37.7 41.2 43.8 34.8 33.2

Chart text box 2 end

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

In the second year of the pandemic, monthly counts of police-reported violent crime 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 than prior to the pandemic (-12% overall from 2019 to 2021). As a result, in the latter portion of 2020 through 2021, the general pattern of monthly counts of police-reported crime mostly returned to what had been observed in the months prior to March 2020, when initial pandemic responses began.

Chart 4 start

Chart 4 Number of police-reported criminal incidents, by type of crime, by month, Canada, 2019 to 2021

Data table for Chart 4 
Data table for chart 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 4. The information is grouped by Year and month (appearing as row headers), Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic), Total violent crime, Total property crime, Total drug offences and Total other Criminal Code offences, calculated using number of incidents units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year and month Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic) Total violent crime Total property crime Total drug offences Total other Criminal Code offences
number of incidents
2019
January 166,573 36,255 98,639 5,659 31,679
February 142,042 32,694 81,756 5,270 27,592
March 168,630 38,040 97,530 5,362 33,060
April 175,297 38,978 103,980 5,929 32,339
May 192,407 42,423 114,053 6,070 35,931
June 194,055 42,618 114,763 6,423 36,674
July 207,853 42,895 126,509 6,392 38,449
August 209,540 41,717 128,540 6,446 39,283
September 199,540 40,602 123,647 6,672 35,291
October 195,607 40,730 121,053 6,135 33,824
November 175,005 38,119 105,465 5,184 31,421
December 167,334 37,170 100,091 4,148 30,073
2020
January 176,097 37,928 106,517 5,892 31,652
February 167,263 37,090 99,547 5,443 30,626
March 163,491 36,676 98,525 4,961 28,290
April 144,486 32,602 86,332 5,295 25,552
May 150,745 37,560 83,632 6,572 29,553
June 168,544 42,726 94,524 5,736 31,294
July 189,880 47,977 105,142 5,606 36,761
August 189,672 45,494 108,386 5,833 35,792
September 180,748 41,799 104,425 6,102 34,524
October 178,976 40,293 106,009 5,508 32,674
November 155,996 36,765 90,358 5,452 28,873
December 148,252 35,033 85,110 4,449 28,109
2021
January 150,765 35,614 85,791 4,889 29,360
February 134,213 33,885 74,370 4,725 25,958
March 163,955 41,024 91,626 6,363 31,305
April 161,778 39,933 89,874 6,142 31,971
May 173,753 43,406 96,122 5,826 34,225
June 180,285 45,698 99,562 5,280 35,025
July 185,973 44,695 105,201 4,885 36,077
August 191,583 45,403 110,981 4,658 35,199
September 185,174 43,638 107,493 5,305 34,043
October 181,706 43,663 105,512 4,407 32,531
November 172,345 41,320 100,939 4,881 30,086
December 157,104 38,653 91,404 3,444 27,047

Chart 4 end

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 fourth quarters of the year (October through March). Crime would then begin to increase to a peak in July and August, before dropping again in the fall and winter months. People generally socialize more in the summer months, potentially affording more opportunity for crimes to occur or for crime to be more visible. This pattern was disrupted somewhat by the pandemic due to the very 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 urban areas decreased significantly compared with 2019, while violent crime in rural areas increased (Chart 5).Note  Overall, the crime rate in urban areas decreased 11% from 2019 to 2020, and then remained stable in 2021, while the crime rate in rural areas was down 1% in 2020, followed by a 2% increase in 2021.

Chart 5 start

Chart 5 Police-reported urban and rural crime rates, by type of offence, Canada, 2019 to 2021

Data table for Chart 5 
Data table for chart 5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 5. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Urban police services, Rural police services, Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic), Total violent crime, Total property crime and Total other Criminal Code offences, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Urban police services Rural police services
Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic) Total violent crime Total property crime Total other Criminal Code offences Total Criminal Code (excluding traffic) Total violent crime Total property crime Total other Criminal Code offences
rate per 100,000 population
2019 5,567 1,140 3,447 980 7,569 2,034 3,865 1,670
2020 4,941 1,109 2,961 872 7,492 2,113 3,754 1,625
2021 4,958 1,165 2,898 895 7,632 2,176 3,836 1,620

Chart 5 end

Overall, the violent crime rate in rural areas increased 3% in 2021 compared with 2020, and was 7% higher than in 2019. The rate of property crime in rural areas was 1% lower in 2021 compared with 2019. In contrast, urban areas experienced a significant decrease (-14%) in the rate of property crime in 2020 (as well as an 11% drop in other Criminal Code offences), and another 2% decrease in 2021. Violent crime in urban areas was down 3% in the first 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 crime rate decreased largely due to less property crime and fewer other Criminal Code offences.

It is important to note that rural areas of Canada are often analyzed as a homogenous group, however, they are subject to high variability, both in terms of crime rate, as well as relative location across the country (Perreault 2019). For example, differences in urban and rural areas were previously noted in the Prairie Provinces relative to other provinces, as well as a distinction between north and south regions. For detailed information on rural Canada, see Statistics Canada’s Rural Canada Statistics Portal.

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Text box 3
Measuring crime in Canada: Police-reported and self-reported data

Self-reported surveys provide an important complement to official police-reported data on crime. In Canada, two main national surveys collect crime-related data: the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey and the General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization). The UCR collects police-reported data, while the GSS on Victimization collects information from a sample of Canadians aged 15 and older on their experiences with crime. The GSS on Victimization is conducted every five years, with the most recent cycle having been conducted in 2019.Note  Unlike the UCR, the GSS on Victimization captures information both on crimes that have been reported to police and those that have not. The GSS on Victimization, however, collects information for a subset of offences—sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, breaking and entering, theft of motor vehicles or their parts, theft of personal property, theft of household property and vandalism—and does not include crimes committed against businesses or institutions.

While both surveys are used to measure crime, significant methodological and conceptual differences exist between them and affect direct comparisons of data findings (for further information, see Wallace et al. 2009). It is possible, however, to compare the distribution of offences to better understand changes in the pattern of crimes reported to police. For instance, both surveys show that physical assault is the most common type of violent crime, and that sexual assault is more common than robbery.

In contrast, the GSS shows that women are at a greater risk of being a victim of a violent crime, which is considerably different from what is seen in police-reported data, where the overall rate of violent crime is only slightly higher among women than men. This difference can be attributed to several factors. Police-reported data includes a broader range of types of violent crime than does the GSS, which asks only about sexual assault, robbery, and physical assault. In addition, sexual assault is vastly underreported to police, meaning that a large part of violent crime that disproportionately affects women is the least likely to be reflected in official data (Cotter 2021).

According to the GSS on Victimization, 29% of the eight crime types measured in the 2019 cycle were reported to the police. Reporting rates ranged from 6% of sexual assault to 52% of motor vehicle or motor vehicle parts thefts. Moreover, retrospective questions on child abuse also show that, for the vast majority (93%) of those who were victimized by an adult before age 15, the abuse was not reported to the police or child protective services (Cotter 2021).

To further complement police-reported data and to advance knowledge of all forms of gender-based violence in Canada, including forms of violence that may not meet the criminal threshold, Statistics Canada conducted the first cycle of the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) in 2018, with a second cycle planned for collection in 2024/2025. The SSPPS collects self-reported information on experiences and characteristics of violent victimization as well as the continuum of other unwanted experiences while in public, online, or at work. According to SSPPS, the vast majority of incidents of violent crime occurring in the 12 months preceding the survey did not come to the attention of police: 5% of women stated that police found out about the most serious incident of sexual assault they experienced, while 26% of women and 33% of men who were physically assaulted said likewise (Cotter and Savage 2019).

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Key trends for police-reported crime in Canada in 2021

In 2021, there were significant changes for certain offences that highlight how police-reported crime was evolving in Canada.

The following sections cover a selection of offences that contributed to how police-reported crime evolved in Canada in 2021. Specifically, sexual assault, breaking and entering, theft of $5,000 or under and robbery were important contributors to the change in the Crime Severity Index. Descriptive text boxes provide detail on police-reported family violence, hate-motivated crime, and offences against the administration of the criminal justice system, topics relevant to the dynamics of the pandemic. Additionally, certain offences provide an indicator of how crime continues to shift in Canada, whether or not they directly impacted the CSI, including opioid drug offences, violent firearm crime, fraud, harassing and threatening behaviours and homicide.

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

While the overall 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 sexual assault accounted for 40% of the increase in the Violent CSI. In contrast, the rates of police-reported level 2 and 3 sexual assault decreased 5% and 13%, respectively. In total, level 1 sexual assault accounted for 98% of sexual assaults in 2021.

Overall, there were 34,242 police-reported sexual assaults (level 1, 2 and 3) in 2021, representing 90 incidents per 100,000 population (Table 3; Table 5). This rate was 18% higher than in 2020, and the highest rate since 1996 (the rate was the same as in 1997). Prior to a decrease in 2020, the rate of sexual assault had increased steadily for five years (Chart 6). From 2020 to 2021, the rate of police-reported sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3) increased in all provinces, but decreased in all three territories (Table 5).Note 

Chart 6 start

Chart 6 Sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3), police-reported rate, Canada, 1986 to 2021

Data table for Chart 6 
Data table for chart 6
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 6. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3), calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Sexual assault (level 1, 2 and 3)
rate per 100,000 population
1986 79
1987 85
1988 93
1989 98
1990 101
1991 108
1992 121
1993 121
1994 109
1995 96
1996 91
1997 90
1998 85
1999 78
2000 78
2001 78
2002 78
2003 74
2004 72
2005 73
2006 68
2007 65
2008 65
2009 62
2010 66
2011 64
2012 63
2013 60
2014 58
2015 59
2016 60
2017 68
2018 77
2019 82
2020 76
2021 90

Chart 6 end

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

In 2020, pandemic-related lockdown conditions could have exacerbated issues around underreporting of sexual assaults. With widespread stay-at-home orders and overburdened hospital and medical care resources, it may have been more difficult for victims to come forward to report instances of sexual assault, and less likely that a third-party (for example a doctor or teacher) would identify signs of abuse, particularly for children and youth. Likewise, with circumstances around the pandemic evolving in 2021, there may have been more opportunity for individuals to report sexual assaults, but also potentially more opportunity for sexual assaults committed by strangers. There are some indications that family violence services and victims of family violence were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic (see Text box 4).

In 2021, less than one in ten (8%) level 1 sexual assaults reported to police were classified as unfounded, meaning it had been determined through police investigation 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) classified as unfounded dropped from 11% in 2017 and has stabilized at 9% in 2021. For more detailed information on the potential impact of unfounded criminal incidents in previous years, refer to Text box 2 in Moreau et al. 2020 and Moreau 2019.

Note that the information presented on sexual assaults excludes incidents of sexual violations against children, as well as child pornography offences. Information on these violations can be found in “Findings for other selected police-reported offences in Canada in 2021.”

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Text box 4
Family violence during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought increased attention to the issue of family violence. With individuals distancing, working and studying at home, many were concerned about the prospect of victims of family violence isolating with their abuser, while contact with other family, friends and professionals (e.g., doctors, teachers) was significantly reduced.

While the rate of police-reported family violenceNote  remained unchanged between 2019 and 2020 (Moreau 2021), there was a 4% increase in the rate between 2020 and 2021 (from 324 to 337 victims per 100,000 population). Between 2020 and 2021, increases were noted for all victim subgroups: family violence against children and youth aged 17 and younger increased 14%, while family violence against seniors aged 65 and olderNote  increased 8% and family violence against adults aged 18 to 64 increased 2%. Increases were also noted for all victim subgroups when comparing rates in 2021 to those from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.Note  In all, there were 127,504 victims of family violence in 2021.

It is possible that public health restrictions might have led to a decrease in reporting violence to police while, inversely, the easing of restrictions might have led to an increase in reporting to police, either by victims or third-party individuals who witnessed or suspected such violence.

Shelters are often an important resource for victims escaping violence in the home. According to the Survey of Residential Facilities for Victims of Abuse, 54% of all people living in residential facilities for victims of abuse were women while 44% were accompanying children (Ibrahim 2022a).Note  The large majority (84%) of these women were primarily escaping intimate partner violence, and seven in ten (70%) reported living with their abuser at the time they sought shelter. In 2020/2021, one-third (34%) of facilities reported their ability to serve victims was impacted to a great extent by the COVID-19 pandemic, while nearly half (44%) were impacted to a moderate extent.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics will be releasing family violence analysis in the fall, including standardized data tables. Detail will be provided about the types of relationships and the types of offences that were involved in instances of family violence.

End of text box 4

Continued decrease in rates of breaking and entering, theft of $5,000 or under, 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 the crime severity index in 2021. As was observed in 2020, these offences were likely impacted by conditions of the pandemic, namely people being at home more often and shifting business models for some retail stores.

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

Chart 7 start

Chart 7 Selected police reported property crimes and robbery, Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart 7 
Data table for chart 7
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 7. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Breaking and entering, Robbery, Shoplifting of $5,000 or under and Theft of $5,000 or under, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Breaking and entering Robbery Shoplifting of $5,000 or under Theft of $5,000 or under
rate per 100,000 population
1998 1,163 109 303 2,063
1999 1,046 107 276 1,955
2000 956 100 262 1,899
2001 901 99 258 1,869
2002 879 96 257 1,871
2003 901 101 271 1,944
2004 864 97 240 1,871
2005 811 101 237 1,743
2006 772 106 245 1,652
2007 704 104 234 1,530
2008 635 97 238 1,425
2009 613 97 276 1,386
2010 579 90 268 1,286
2011 528 87 260 1,197
2012 508 80 264 1,175
2013 446 66 250 1,096
2014 429 59 265 1,069
2015 447 62 280 1,085
2016 444 61 285 1,091
2017 437 62 296 1,086
2018 433 61 337 1,100
2019 430 62 373 1,129
2020 363 51 240 910
2021 328 48 248 877

Chart 7 end

All provinces other than Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported declines or no change in the rate of breaking and entering in 2021 (Table 5). The largest decreases occurred in Alberta (-17%), British Columbia (-15%) and Quebec (-12%). In contrast, all three territories reported increases in 2021. Given its relatively high volume and CSI weight, changes in rates of breaking and entering had an impact on CSIs in several jurisdictions (see Text box 2 and Appendix A to D). In 2021, 20 out of 35 census metropolitan areas (CMAs)Note   reported decreases or no change in breaking and entering (Table 7).

In 2021, rates of theft of $5,000 or under dropped 4%, following a 19% decline in 2020. The decline in theft of $5,000 or under was the second largest contributor to the decrease in the general crime severity index, though its impact was small relative to breaking and entering. The drop was fairly localized; 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 change since last year.

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

Specific CMAs accounted for large changes in police-reported shoplifting rates in several 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 Ontario experienced large changes up or down, and all four CMAs in British Columbia reported increases.

The national rate of police-reported robbery dropped 5% in 2021, from 51 incidents per 100,000 population to 48 incidents. This follows an 18% decrease the year before. Rates of police-reported robbery had been fairly stable for the five years preceding the pandemic period. Rates of robbery declined or remained unchanged throughout most of Canada in 2021, with the exception of Atlantic Canada (excluding New Brunswick) and Nunavut (Table 5). Rates of robbery also declined or remained the same in 19 of 35 CMAs, however for those that reported an increase, rates increased fairly substantially, with 13 CMAs reporting increases of at least 10% (Table 7). These increases were typically a rebound from decreases reported in 2020.

Police-reported opioid drug offences continue to increase during the pandemic

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the ongoing public health crisis of opioid overdose deaths and hospitalizations. Between January 2016 and December 2021, PHAC reported that 29,052 apparent opioid toxicity deaths had occurred in Canada. During the first year of the pandemic (April 2020 to March 2021), there were 7,362 opioid-related deaths, a 96% increase from the previous year. Since then, the number of deaths has remained high. Of all accidental apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2021, 86% involved fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. Opioid-related deaths and hospitalizations have also been linked to the use of stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine, reflecting the polysubstance nature of the crisis (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2022).

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

In 2021, there were 5,996 opioid-related offences in Canada, representing a rate of 16 per 100,000 population, a 13% increase compared to 2020 (Table 8).Note  This also followed a 37% increase in 2020.All opioid-related drug violations increased in 2021, including more possession, trafficking, production and importation or exportation offences (Table 9). Among the provinces, the highest rates were reported in British Columbia (57 per 100,000 population), Ontario (13) and Alberta (13), with notable increases in Quebec, Ontario and the Prairie provinces (Table 8). The CMAs 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) and St. Catharines-Niagara (30). In terms of opioid-related deaths, Western Canada continues to be the most impacted region of the country since 2016, but rates have begun to increase in other areas as well, notably in Ontario (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses 2022).

Similar to the previous year, opioid-related offences were the only specific drug typeNote  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 rates of cannabis (35 incidents per 100,000 population), cocaine (35), methamphetamine (30) and opioid-related offences (16) were highest among the specific drug types (Table 8).

While the rates of these other drug types decreased, the polysubstance nature of the opioid crisis may impact how particular drug offences, namely those related to methamphetamine and cocaine, are reported, given that only one drug type will be indicated as the most serious violation for a particular criminal incident. According to data reported by PHAC from six provinces and territories, more than half (58%) of accidental opioid toxicity deaths so far in 2021 also involved a stimulant. Of these deaths, 63% involved cocaine, while 53% involved methamphetamines. Similarly, 86% of deaths identified as apparent stimulant toxicity deaths also involved an opioid over the same time period.

For information on cannabis-related drug offences, see “Findings for other selected police-reported offences in Canada in 2021.”

Start of text box 5

Text box 5
Police-reported hate crime in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed and exacerbated issues related to discrimination in Canada, including hate crime. For example, according to data from the 2020 General Social Survey on Social Identity, racialized groups were more than twice as likely to report having experienced discrimination since the start of the pandemic compared with the rest of the populationNote  (data table 43-10-0061-01).

Hate crimes target the integral and visible parts of a person's identity and may disproportionately affect the wider community. A hate crime incident may be carried out against a person or property and may target race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, language, sex, age, mental or physical disability, or any other similar factor.

The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased by 27% in 2021, rising from 2,646 incidents to 3,360. This follows a 36% increase in police-reported hate crimes from 2019 to 2020. In total, police-reported hate crimes have increased 72% over the last two years. From 2020 to 2021, increases were noted in the number of police-reported hate crimes targeting religion (+354 incidents, +67%) and sexual orientation (+165 incidents, +64%), and to a lesser extent race or ethnicity (+104 incidents, +6%). All provinces and territories reported increases in the number of hate crimes in 2021, except for Yukon which remained the same.

Police-reported hate crimes targeting the Jewish (+47%), Muslim (+71%) and Catholic (+260%) religions were up. The increase in hate crimes targeting the Muslim population follows a similar decrease in 2020; the increase also occurred in the same year as an attack in London, Ontario which targeted a Muslim family and resulted in four homicides and one attempted homicide. While it is not possible to link police-reported hate crime incidents to particular events, media coverage and public discourse can increase awareness as well as draw negative reactions from people who share hateful attitudes. In 2021, there were discoveries of unmarked graves on former residential school sites. Following these discoveries, there were reports of hate incidents targeting the Indigenous population as well as churches and other religious institutions. Any criminal incident deemed by police to be motivated by hate would be included in these statistics.

The 423 hate crimes targeting sexual orientation rose above the previous peak of 265 in 2019. About 8 in 10 (77%) of these crimes specifically targeted the gay and lesbian community, while the remainder targeted the bisexual orientation (2%) and other sexual orientations, such as asexual, pansexual or other non-heterosexual orientations (11%). An additional 10% were incidents where the targeted sexual orientation was reported as unknown.

Much of the rise in hate crimes targeting race or ethnicity was the result of more reported crimes targeting the Arab or West AsianNote  population (+58 incidents or +46%), and following large increases in 2020, more crimes targeting the East or Southeast Asian populationNote  (+42 incidents or +16%), and the South Asian populationNote  (+29 incidents or +21%). Hate crimes targeting the Black population dropped 5%, following a 96% increase in 2020. Similarly, hate crimes targeting the Indigenous populationNote  dropped 1%, after increasing 169% in 2020.

Among all hate crimes, both non-violent (+26%) and violent (+29%) hate crimes increased in 2021.

Police data on hate crimes reflect only those incidents that come to the attention of police and that are subsequently classified as hate crimes. As a result, fluctuations in the number of reported incidents may be attributable to a true change in the volume of hate crimes, but they might also reflect changes in reporting by the public because of increased community outreach by police or heightened sensitivity after high-profile events. According to self-report data from the 2019 General Social Survey on Victimization, approximately one in five (22%) of criminal incidents perceived to be motivated by hate were reported to the police.

A detailed analytical Juristat on police-reported hate crime in Canada for the year 2021 will be released in early 2023.


Table for Text box 5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table for Text box 5. The information is grouped by Detailed motivation (appearing as row headers), 2019, 2020 and 2021, calculated using number and % change from previous year units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Detailed motivation 2019 2020 2021
number % change from previous year number % change from previous year number % change from previous year
Race or ethnicity 884 11 1,619 83 1,723 6
Black 345 17 676 96 642 -5
East or Southeast Asian 67 12 263 293 305 16
South Asian 81 -4 135 67 164 21
Arab or West Asian 125 34 126 1 184 46
Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) 29 -26 78 169 77 -1
White 48 14 85 77 53 -38
Other race or ethnicityTable for Text box 5 Note 1 150 -8 188 25 221 18
Race or ethnicity not specified 39 129 68 74 77 13
Religion 613 -7 530 -14 884 67
Jewish 306 -18 331 8 487 47
Muslim 182 10 84 -54 144 71
Catholic 51 16 43 -16 155 260
Other religionTable for Text box 5 Note 2 57 10 40 -30 64 60
Religion not specified 17 -26 32 88 34 6
Sexual orientation 265 42 258 -3 423 64
Other motivationTable for Text box 5 Note 3 150 -6 200 33 199 -1
Motivation unknown 39 77 39 0 131 236
Total 1,951 7 2,646 36 3,360 27

End of text box 5

Continued increases in offences related to harassing and threatening behaviours

In 2021, Canada saw continued increases in the rates of various criminally harassing 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 been increasing since around 2017, and notably throughout the pandemic period (Chart 8).

Chart 8 start

Chart 8 Harassing and threatening behaviours, police-reported rates, Canada, 2009 to 2021

Data table for Chart 8 
Data table for chart 8
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 8. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Uttering threats, Criminal harassment, Indecent or harassing communications and Non-consensual distribution of intimate images, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Uttering threats Criminal harassment Indecent or harassing communications Non-consensual distribution of intimate images
rate per 100,000 population
2009 234 59 69 Note ...: not applicable
2010 225 63 64 Note ...: not applicable
2011 209 63 59 Note ...: not applicable
2012 203 64 54 Note ...: not applicable
2013 182 61 47 Note ...: not applicable
2014 176 55 39 Note ...: not applicable
2015 176 56 41 1
2016 169 53 42 2
2017 173 54 45 4
2018 180 53 48 4
2019 215 62 62 5
2020 223 65 69 6
2021 229 71 72 6

Chart 8 end

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

Additionally, some police services have indicated that incidents of extortion involving intimate 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 involves obtaining anything through coercion (the use of or threat of violence, accusation or menace). The rate of police-reported extortion increased 32% from 2019 to 2020, and 19% from 2020 to 2021. The rate of extortion has generally been increasing over the last 10 years, up 297% from 2011. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the nature of extortion has been shifting in the digital world, including the use of hostage-taking scams, ransomware, sextortion and various other digital and electronic scams (CAFC 2022). Over the course of the 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

The rate of police-reported total fraud was stable during the first two years of the pandemic. After remaining stable at 443 incidents per 100,000 population in 2019 and 2020, the rate dropped less than 1% to 441 incidents in 2021. This rate was 74% higher than the rate reported a decade ago (Chart 9).Note  The general stability was the result of small shifts in the three fraud subtypes: a 1% decline in general fraud, the most voluminous type of fraud, as well as a 3% decline in identity theft, offset by a 3% increase in identity fraud.Note 

Chart 9 start

Chart 9 Fraud, police-reported rates, Canada, 2010 to 2021

Data table for Chart 9 
Data table for chart 9
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 9. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Total fraud, General fraud, Identity fraud and Identity theft, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Total fraud General fraud Identity fraud Identity theft
rate per 100,000 population
2010 261 240 18 2
2011 254 226 23 4
2012 258 227 26 5
2013 260 227 27 6
2014 266 229 30 6
2015 305 264 33 7
2016 351 304 39 9
2017 358 310 39 9
2018 404 351 43 10
2019 443 378 53 13
2020 443 363 60 19
2021 441 360 62 19

Chart 9 end

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

While fraud overall was fairly stable throughout the pandemic, incidents of reported cyber-related fraud increased substantially. From 2019 to 2020, the total number of cyber-related fraud violations 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 underreported to police. In particular, according to the 2019 General Social Survey on Victimization, over 5.2 million Canadians aged 15 and older reported having been a victim of fraud in the 5 years preceding the survey. Of those victims, 11% reported the incident of fraud to the police.

While fraud is not an especially severe crime in the CSI, it is a relatively high-volume crime, which contributed to making fraud, typically general fraud, a common driver of the CSI and Non-Violent CSI in several jurisdictions in Canada. For the second year in a row, Western Canada, the Prairies and Ontario reported decreases in the rate of total fraud, while Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island reported consecutive increases (Table 5). Total fraud decreased in 20 of 35 CMAs in 2021 (Table 7).

Increase in rates of violent and non-violent Criminal Code firearm offences for seventh consecutive year

The Criminal Code specifies a number of violent offences involving the use of a firearm, including discharging a firearm with intent, pointing a firearm and using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence.Note  Among these offences specified in the Criminal Code that were reported by police, 46% in 2021 were for discharging a firearm with intent, while another 39% were for pointing a firearm. The remaining 15% were for using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence. The number of violent offences specific to firearms increased by 194 incidents in 2021 (from 4,187 in 2020 to 4,381 in 2021), resulting in a 4% rate increase (Table 3). This marks the seventh consecutive annual increase. The rates of discharging a firearm with intent (+8%) and using a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence (+3%) increased, while the rate remained stable for pointing of a firearm. Much of the increase in firearm-related offences in 2021 was the result of more incidents in Quebec (+128) and Manitoba (+78), while there were fewer incidents in Ontario (-71).

In addition to the violent offences involving a firearm specified in the Criminal Code, other more serious crimes such as homicide, robbery, assault and sexual assault may have also involved a firearm. To measure all violent firearm-related crime, information on the incident characteristics must be used. In 2021, there were 8,047 victims of violent crime where a firearm was present during the commission of the offence, or a rate 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 crime has generally been increasing since 2013, when it was at its lowest point since comparable data became available.Note 

The rate of non-violent weapons violations (e.g., possession of weapons and unsafe storage of firearms) increased 2% from 51 incidents per 100,000 population in 2020 to 52 incidents in 2021, increasing for the seventh consecutive year (Table 3). The vast majority (91%) of these violations were related to possession of weapons offences and breach offences for weapons possession contrary to an order.

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

National homicide rate increases for third year in a row

In 2021, police reported 788 homicides, 29 more than the previous year. The national homicide rate increased 3% from 2.00 homicides per 100,000 population in 2020, to 2.06 homicides per 100,000 population in 2021. This follows a 9% increase in 2020. Overall, homicides represented 0.2% of all violent crimes, a similar proportion to previous years (Table 3; Chart 10; data table 35-10-0068-01).

Chart 10 start

Chart 10 Attempted murder and homicide, police-reported rates, Canada, 1986 to 2021

Data table for Chart 10 
Data table for chart 10
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 10. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Homicide and Attempted murder, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Homicide Attempted murder
rate per 100,000 population
1986 2.18 3.37
1987 2.43 3.46
1988 2.15 3.12
1989 2.41 3.04
1990 2.38 3.27
1991 2.69 3.72
1992 2.58 3.72
1993 2.19 3.43
1994 2.06 3.18
1995 2.01 3.20
1996 2.14 2.97
1997 1.96 2.89
1998 1.85 2.47
1999 1.77 2.26
2000 1.78 2.50
2001 1.78 2.34
2002 1.86 2.16
2003 1.74 2.23
2004 1.95 2.10
2005 2.06 2.55
2006 1.86 2.57
2007 1.81 2.41
2008 1.84 2.17
2009 1.81 2.38
2010 1.63 1.96
2011 1.74 1.94
2012 1.56 1.92
2013 1.46 1.81
2014 1.47 1.78
2015 1.71 2.18
2016 1.69 2.18
2017 1.82 2.25
2018 1.78 2.22
2019 1.83 2.33
2020 2.00 2.24
2021 2.06 1.95

Chart 10 end

Overall, the increase in the national number of homicides was the result of more homicides in Ontario (+37 homicides, which follows two years of decreases) and British Columbia (+25 homicides). In contrast, Alberta (-23 homicides, which follows two years of increases) and Nova Scotia (-14 homicides, which follows a large increase in 2020 as a result of the mass shooting that occurred in the province)Note  recorded relatively large decreases. As has been the case with provincial comparisons historically, rates were highest in Saskatchewan (5.93 homicides per 100,000 population) and Manitoba (4.41). A high rate was also observed in Yukon (9.31 homicides per 100,000 population) and Nunavut (5.08), while there was one homicide reported in the Northwest Territories in 2021. The relatively small population counts in the Territories typically translate to higher and more variable rates (Table 5; data table 35-10-0068-01).

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 were the only CMAs with no homicides in 2021.

With 117 homicides, Toronto, Canada’s most populous CMA, had the most homicides in 2021, but the 16th highest rate. Toronto’s rate rose 11% as a result of 12 more homicides. Among the CMAs, Vancouver (+14 homicides), Toronto (+12) and London (+8) reported the largest increases in the number of homicides from 2020 to 2021.

Rate of Indigenous victims of homicide decreases in 2021, but remains disproportionately high

In 2021, there were 190 Indigenous victims of homicide,Note  a decrease from 208 in 2020. This represents a rate decrease of 11% for Indigenous peoples in 2021 (9.17 per 100,000 Indigenous peoples in 2021 compared to 10.28 in 2020). This rate was approximately six times higher than the 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% as Inuk (Inuit). For an additional 24% of Indigenous victims of homicide, the Indigenous group to which they belonged was not identified. For more information on Indigenous victims of homicide, see data table 35-10-0156-01.

The number of female Indigenous victims increased from 42 to 45, while the number of male victims fell by 21 (from 166 to 145).The highest rate of homicide was among Indigenous males (14.13 homicides per 100,000 population), followed by Indigenous females (4.31 per 100,000 population) and non-Indigenous males (2.30 per 100,000 population). Homicide rates 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. 2014Bombay et al. 2011; Bombay et al. 2009MMIWG 2019The Truth and Reconciliation Commission 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 circumstances (Arriagada et al. 2020MMIWG 2019Statistics Canada 2020bThe Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). These factors play a significant role in the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and as victims of crime (Ontario Human Rights Commission 2003House of Commons 2018).

For more information on homicide victims by age group, gender and Indigenous identity, see data tables 35-10-0156-01 and 35-10-0060-01.

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

Of the 762 victims of homicide in 2021 for whom information was available, almost one-third (32%) or 247 victims were identified 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 victims in 2021. In 2021, the rate of homicide among racialized victims was higher than victims 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 

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

The homicide rate for racialized males was more than one and a half times higher than that of males of the rest of the population in 2021 (4.10 victims per 100,000 racialized males compared with 2.59 male victims from the rest of the population). For females, the opposite was true—in 2021, racialized females had a lower homicide rate than their female counterparts (0.92 victims per 100,000 population compared with 1.03 population), and both lower than the national average of 2.06. Caution should be used when interpreting rates among racialized populations because the relatively small population counts typically translate to more unstable rates.

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

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

A detailed analytical Juristat on Homicide in Canada for the year 2021 will be released in late 2022.

Four in ten homicides are firearm-related

In 2021, 41% of all homicides were firearm-related, similar to the proportion seen in 2020 (39%).Note 

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

Of the 297 firearm-related homicides that occurred in 2021, almost half (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 more than in 2020. The majority (74%) were committed with a firearm, most often a handgun (65%). In 2021, gang-related homicide committed with a firearm represented 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 100,000 population) recorded in Canada since comparable data were first collected in 2005. 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 year there are over 2 million criminal offences reported by police in Canada. Depending on the relative volume or severity of an offence, it may not be considered among the primary contributors to changes in crime in a given year. Some crimes may be important from a public policy or safety perspective, despite not necessarily having a considerable impact on annual changes in crime. This section provides information for the year 2021 for selected criminal offences and, where possible, includes links to detailed analytical articles that have previously been published by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

Human trafficking stable in 2021

Trafficking in persons, also known as human trafficking, involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing or harbouring a person, or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation (Criminal Code 1985). Victims tend to disproportionately come from vulnerable or marginalized populations, mostly young women or children, and due to the hidden nature 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 offences reported under the Criminal Code (352 incidents) and the Immigration 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 has been on an upward trend since 2011. Historically, human trafficking incidents tend to occur in urban centres, notably in Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.

For detailed information on human trafficking over time—including discussion of incident characteristics, victims and accused persons—in Canada, see Conroy and Sutton 2022.

Child sexual exploitation and abuse increased in 2021

While many police-reported crimes declined during the pandemic, the rate of police-reported child pornographyNote  increased 31% from 2019 to 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 trending upward since 2008. Overall, there were 11,790 incidents of child pornography reported by police in 2021 (Table 3). Similarly, sexual violations against childrenNote  have also increased throughout the pandemic, including a 14% rise in 2021. The combined rate of sexual violations against children was 32 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021.

For many child sexual exploitation and abuse violations, the incidents that occur are committed online as cybercrimes. For instance, 61% of incidents of child pornography and 20% of sexual violations against children were recorded as cybercrimes.Note  The pandemic has potentially exacerbated issues related to cybercrimes for these offences as children have been more likely to be staying at home and individuals are more likely to use the internet to engage with others.

For a detailed discussion of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Canada, see Ibrahim 2022b. For a detailed discussion of important context related to the reporting of child pornography incidents, see section “Continued increase in rate of police-reported child pornography” in Moreau 2021.

Cannabis offences in 2021

Nationally, the total rate of police-reported cannabis offences under the Cannabis Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act increased for the first time in 9 years, rising 5% in 2021 (Table 8 and Table 9).Note  Previously, a general decrease in cannabis-related offences had been compounded by the legalization of cannabis on October 17, 2018. The Cannabis Act provides a legal framework for the legalization and regulation of the production, distribution, sale, possession, importation and exportation of cannabis in Canada (Parliament of Canada 2018).

Police reported a total of 13,560 cannabis-related incidents, representing a rate of 35 incidents per 100,000 population. The most commonly reported offences were related to importation or exportation (66% of all Cannabis Act offences), possession (9%), and distribution (8%) (Table 9).

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

Impaired driving decreased in 2021

Police reported just under 71,500 impaired driving incidents in 2021, about 6,300 fewer incidents 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, except for Ontario (+7%) and the Northwest Territories (+3) (Table 5). Overall, the police-reported rate of impaired driving in Canada dropped 9% to 187 incidents per 100,000 population.

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

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

For more detailed information on the potential impact of legislative changes, technological and procedural changes, and other context impacting police-reported impaired driving in Canada, refer to Moreau 2021 and Perreault 2021.

Police-reported youth crime

While overall crime statistics are based on the number of criminal incidents reported by police (regardless of whether or not an accused was identified), measures of police-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 who were either charged, or recommended for charge, as well as those who were cleared by other means, including those diverted from the formal criminal justice system through the use of warnings, cautions, referrals to community programs and other diversion programs.

In 2021, there were 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% in 2021 and has been on a long downward trend, declining for over two decades after peaking in 1991 (Table 10Table 11). The rate of youth accused of violent crime increased 6% in 2021, while the rate of youth accused in other major categories of crime (property crime, other Criminal Code offences, drug crime, other federal statute violations and Criminal Code traffic violations) all decreased. While the youth crime rate increased, the Violent CSI decreased 4%, meaning that the relative severity of violent crime decreased, despite the volume of violent crime going up. Between 2011 and 2021, the rate of youth accused of crime fell 60% and the Youth CSI (YCSI) – which measures both the volume and severity of crime involving youth accused (charged and not charged) – fell 50% (Table 12; Chart 11).

Chart 11 start

Chart 11 Police-reported Youth Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart 11 
Data table for chart 11
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 11. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Youth Crime Severity Index, Youth Violent Crime Severity Index and Youth Non-violent Crime Severity Index, calculated using Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Youth Crime Severity Index Youth Violent Crime Severity Index Youth Non-violent Crime Severity Index
Index
1998 110.2 86.6 128.3
1999 99.3 83.5 111.4
2000 103.5 89.3 114.4
2001 106.0 91.4 117.1
2002 101.1 87.3 111.7
2003 106.0 92.6 116.2
2004 100.9 87.9 110.8
2005 97.4 94.2 99.8
2006 100.0 100.0 100.0
2007 101.5 102.1 101.0
2008 95.7 95.7 95.6
2009 95.6 96.7 94.7
2010 90.0 93.2 87.6
2011 81.7 87.5 77.3
2012 77.4 82.3 73.6
2013 66.2 71.2 62.3
2014 60.6 64.8 57.4
2015 60.4 66.4 55.9
2016 59.9 70.9 51.8
2017 62.7 80.5 49.9
2018 56.6 77.0 42.1
2019 55.1 79.8 37.7
2020 43.0 66.9 26.3
2021 41.0 64.2 24.7

Chart 11 end

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

Similar to previous years, the most common criminal offences committed by youth in 2021 were level 1 assault (394 accused per 100,000 youth), mischief (309) and administration of justice violations (197), such as breach of probation and failure 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.

Start of text box 6

Text box 6
Impacts of the pandemic on the criminal justice system – Canadian policing, courts and corrections

In many respects, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the day-to-day functioning of the Canadian working population. As was the case with most sectors, the operations of the Canadian criminal justice system changed dramatically as a result of the pandemic, impacting access to justice for all Canadians.

Many sectors of society experienced unprecedented operational adjustments and drops in capacity or resources early in 2020, which typically began to rebound through 2021 (Statistics Canada 2022b). In general, this trend was observed with the criminal justice system—including policing, courts and corrections—as it typically encountered reduced capacities and resources, notably in the first half of 2020. As the pandemic situation evolved and the justice system continued to adapt, there was typically a rebound toward, but not reaching, pre-pandemic indicators. Delays and backlogs encountered at the height of the pandemic continued to impact the administration of justice.

The pandemic has also created new serious legal problems for some Canadians or has exacerbated existing problems (Savage and McDonald 2022). Data from the Canadian Legal Problems Survey show that more than four in ten Canadians who reported experiencing a serious legal problem in the three years preceding the survey said that their serious problem worsened or became more difficult to resolve as a result of the pandemic. As well, almost four in ten Canadians who reported experiencing a serious problem said that their problem happened during the pandemic (after March 16, 2020).

Police strength remained stable in 2021 compared with 2019

Canada's police services are mandated with the essential task of administering and maintaining law and order across Canada. They also have to ensure public safety and are an essential service during times of crisis, such as in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest Police Administration Survey, the rate of police strength in Canada was stable in the second year of the pandemic, in comparison with the previous survey cycle (2019), after having previously decreased since 2011 (Statistics Canada 2022a).

While the rate of police strength remained stable relative to before the pandemic, police services had to reorganize the way they carry out their daily operating tasks. Police services altered their operations in order to ensure that health measures were followed, but also to account for officers being absent for COVID-19-related reasons. Nearly half (42%) of police services reported that 20% or more of their staff had taken at least one day off from work at some point in 2020/2021 because of the pandemic. In addition, over 9 in 10 police services (93%) stated that they had introduced new operating measures or made adaptations within their workplace because of the pandemic (Statistics Canada 2022a).

Overall, calls for police service decreased by 5% in 2020/2021 compared with 2018/2019, when data were last collected. Similarly, the police-reported crime rate was down 9% in 2020 compared with 2019.

Canadian courts and corrections rebounded, but indicators remained below pre-pandemic levels

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, Canadian criminal courts were overburdened and institutional delays were commonplace. Delays can have an adverse impacts on persons accused of committing a crime, as well as offenders, victims and witnesses (Statistics Canada 2021a). In an effort to support the right to be tried within a reasonable time limit, the Supreme Court of Canada established the Jordan limit (R. v. Jordan 2016, Karam et al. 2020). The Jordan limit is a ceiling set by the Supreme Court beyond which delays are presumed to be unreasonable and could result in a stay of proceedings. There was a steady decrease in the percentage of total completed cases in adult criminal courts exceeding the Jordan limit at the time that they were completed in the fiscal years (April 1st to March 31st) following the Jordan ruling (5.8% in 2016/2017 to 3.8% in 2019/2020). However, as a result of the pandemic, many courts across the country were unable to continue operating at normal capacity, which in some cases caused lengthy delays (data table 35-10-0173-01).

Overall, the number of cases completed in adult criminal courts decreased during the pandemic, falling from around 216,000 cases completed during the last three quarters of 2019 (April 1 to December 31), to just over 151,000 during the same period in 2020.Note  However, case completions were up to 84% of pre-pandemic levels during the same period in 2021 (nearly 181,000 cases). Despite the observed rebound in case completions, the initial backlog and delays resulted in an increase in the median amount of time required to complete cases that took over one week to complete. Following the onset of the pandemic, cases completed between April and December 2020 took approximately 39% longer (or 67 more days) to be completed compared with the time required during the same period prior to the pandemic (172 days for cases completed between April and December 2019). Furthermore, when comparing the final three quarters of 2019 with those of 2020 and 2021, a higher proportion of completed cases had exceeded the Jordan limit at the time they were completed in both 2020 and 2021 (increasing from 3.7% of total cases in 2019 to 6.6% in 2020 and again to 10.4% in 2021).

While balancing public safety concerns, reducing the number of persons held in correctional institutions was seen as a preventive measure to reduce the public health risk associated with COVID-19 transmission for those in custody and correctional staff. In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an unprecedented decline in the number of adults and youth in a correctional institution, and counts fluctuated in tandem with pandemic-imposed restrictions (Statistics Canada 2022c). In 2020/2021, the annual average daily count of adults in provincial and territorial custody declined 21% from the previous year, while the federal custodial population declined 9%. Most of the decrease in provincial and territorial custody occurred in the first month of the pandemic, from March to April 2020, when the monthly average daily count of adults in custody fell 20%. Provincial and territorial custody counts declined again the following month (-5% in May), then trended upward over the remaining course of the year, increasing 14% from June 2020 to March 2021. Similarly, the annual average daily count of youth in custody decreased by more than one-quarter (-27%) in 2020/2021, the largest decline in almost two decades since the Youth Criminal Justice Act came into force.

Police-reported administration of justice violations

The rate of administration of justice violationsNote  increased 4% in 2021, following a 15% decline in 2020. The decline and relatively smaller increase in the first two years of the pandemic may be a consequence of the initial reduced activity in Canadian courts and corrections, and the evolving nature of court operations. Prior to 2020, the rate of administration of justice violationshad increased each of the previous five years. The majority of administration of justice violations in 2021 were for failure to comply with an order (64%), failure to appear (17%) and breach of probation (15%). The rates of failure to appear (+46%) and failure to comply with an order (+4%) increased in 2021, following similar decreases the year prior, while the rate of breach of probation decreased 20% following a decrease of 23% last year.

Early in the pandemic, in an effort to minimize the impact and spread of the virus, the Government of Canada enacted regulatory amendments under the Contraventions Act. These amendments allow law enforcement agencies to issue tickets to individuals who do not comply with orders under the Quarantine Act.Note  In 2021, police reported 2,215 incidents under the Quarantine Act, up from 932 incidents in 2020. The majority (91%) of these incidents were reported in Quebec (827 incidents), British Columbia (624 incidents and Ontario (558 incidents).

End of text box 6

Summary

The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an unprecedented impact on the economic and social lives of Canadians. As a result of efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the way people lived, worked and socialized changed drastically, with many people staying at home for long periods of time and avoiding public gatherings and businesses adjusting their operations to serve Canadians in new or different ways. At least partially as a result of these changes, police-reported crime in Canada dropped throughout the pandemic period in general, yet there were important differences for some types of crime.

Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), was stable in the 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 of increases.

The stability in the overall CSI was the result of increases in violent crime and continued decreases in non-violent crime. The Violent CSI rose 5% in 2021, and was higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The increase in violent crime included higher rates of level 1 sexual assault, sexual violations against children, assault (level 1 and 2), homicide, extortion, harassing and threatening behaviours, and violent firearm violations. The Non-violent CSI—which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences—declined 3%, after a 9% drop in 2020. Much of this decline was due to lower rates of breaking and entering (-10%) and theft of $5,000 or under (-4%).

Despite general stability in overall crime in 2021, the number of hate-motivated crimes reported by police increased by 27%, rising from 2,646 incidents to 3,360. Higher numbers of hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation and race or ethnicity accounted for the majority of the increase.

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

To publish police-reported crime statistics in a timely manner, this article relies mostly on aggregate data (totals), which are the first crime data available each calendar year. There will continue to be more detailed analyses of these data and microdata forthcoming to help inform the pandemic situation and Canadian’s safety and wellbeing.

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


Appendix A
Violations contributing to the change in the Crime Severity Index (CSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.
Table summary
This table displays the results of Violations contributing to the change in the Crime Severity Index (CSI) between 2020 and 2021. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Percent change in CSI from 2020 to 2021 and Violations driving the change in CSI (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Percent change in CSI from 2020 to 2021 Violations driving the change in CSI
Canada Note 0s value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle); offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
Newfoundland and Labrador 9 Increase in homicide, sexual assault (level 1), and sexual violations against children, as well as robbery, shoplifting of $5,000 or under and mischief.
Prince Edward Island -1 Decrease in homicide, as well as administration of justice violations and uttering threats; partially offset by increase in fraud, sexual assault (level 1) and identity fraud.
Nova Scotia -1 Decrease in homicide, as well as fraud and identity theft; partially offset by increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under.
New Brunswick 6 Increase in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), and sexual assault (level 1).
Quebec 5 Increase in sexual assault (level 1) and fraud; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Ontario 1 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), homicide, and theft of motor vehicle; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering and robbery.
Manitoba 1 Increase in assault (level 2) and violent firearms offences; partially offset by decrease in shoplifting of $5,000 or under.
Saskatchewan 3 Increase in mischief, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), homicide and theft of motor vehicle; partially offset by decrease in fraud and breaking and entering.
Alberta -7 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle); partially offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
British Columbia -5 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle); partially offset by increase in homicide.
Yukon -1 Decrease in violent firearms offences, fraud and mischief; partially offset by increase in homicide.
Northwest Territories -6 Decrease in homicide, mischief, and trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cocaine; partially offset by increase in assault (level 1) and breaking and entering.
Nunavut 2 Increase in mischief; partially offset by decrease in assault (level 3), disturb the peace and sexual assault (level 1).

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


Appendix B
Violations contributing to the change in the Violent Crime Severity Index (VCSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.
Table summary
This table displays the results of Violations contributing to the change in the Violent Crime Severity Index (VCSI) between 2020 and 2021. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Percent change in VCSI from 2020 to 2021 and Violations driving the change in VCSI (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Percent change in VCSI from 2020 to 2021 Violations driving the change in VCSI
Canada 5 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), as well as sexual violations against children and assault (level 2); partially offset by decrease in robbery.
Newfoundland and Labrador 19 Increase in homicide, sexual assault (level 1), sexual violations against children and robbery.
Prince Edward Island 6 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), sexual violations against children and robbery; partially offset by decrease in homicide and uttering threats.
Nova Scotia -6 Decrease in homicide, as well as uttering threats.
New Brunswick 7 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), as well as sexual violations against children; partially offset by decrease in homicide and robbery.
Quebec 12 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), as well as sexual violations against children.
Ontario 4 Increase in sexual assault (level 1) and homicide; partially offset by decrease in robbery.
Manitoba 7 Increase in assault (level 2) and violent firearms offences, as well as homicide, sexual assault (level 1) and uttering threats.
Saskatchewan 4 Increase in homicide, violent firearms offences, sexual violations against children and sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in robbery.
Alberta 2 Increase in sexual assault (level 1), as well as sexual violations against children; partially offset by decrease in homicide and robbery.
British Columbia 4 Increase in homicide and sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in attempted murder.
Yukon 5 Increase in homicide; partially offset by decrease in violent firearms offences.
Northwest Territories -9 Decrease in homicide, as well as sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by increase in assault (level 1).
Nunavut -9 Decrease in assault (level 3), as well as sexual assault (level 1).

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


Appendix C
Violations contributing to the change in the Non-violent Crime Severity Index (NVCSI) between 2020 and 2021, by province or territory.
Table summary
This table displays the results of Violations contributing to the change in the Non-violent Crime Severity Index (NVCSI) between 2020 and 2021. The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), Percent change in NVCSI from 2020 to 2021 and Violations driving the change in NVCSI (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Percent change in NVCSI from 2020 to 2021 Violations driving the change in NVCSI
Canada -3 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
Newfoundland and Labrador 4 Increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under, mischief and child pornography.
Prince Edward Island -3 Decrease in administration of justice violations, theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), breaking and entering, and trafficking, production, importation or exportation of other drugs; partially offset by increase in fraud and identity fraud.
Nova Scotia 2 Increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under, as well as mischief, breaking and entering, and identity fraud; partially offset by decrease in fraud.
New Brunswick 6 Increase in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), and fraud; partially offset by decrease in identity theft.
Quebec 1 Increase in fraud and theft of motor vehicle; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Ontario Note 0s value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded Increase in theft of motor vehicle, shoplifting of $5,000 or under and child pornography; offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Manitoba -2 Decrease in shoplifting of $5,000 or under; partially offset by increase in theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
Saskatchewan 3 Increase in mischief, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), and theft of motor vehicle; partially offset by decrease in fraud and breaking and entering.
Alberta -10 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
British Columbia -8 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
Yukon -3 Decrease in several violations, including fraud and mischief, as well as trafficking, production, importation or exportation of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs, impaired driving and possession of stolen property; partially offset by increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under, child pornography and disturb the peace.
Northwest Territories -4 Decrease in mischief and trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cocaine, as well as disturb the peace; partially offset by increase in breaking and entering and fraud.
Nunavut 11 Increase in mischief, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), breaking and entering, trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cocaine and methamphetamine, and fraud; partially offset by decrease in disturb the peace.

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 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.
Table summary
This table displays the results of Violations contributing to the change in the Crime Severity Index (CSI). The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (CMA) (appearing as row headers), Percent change in Crime Severity Index from 2020 to 2021 and Violations driving the change in Crime Severity Index (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area (CMA)Appendix D Note 1 Appendix D Note 2 Appendix D Note 3 Percent change in Crime Severity Index from 2020 to 2021 Violations driving the change in Crime Severity Index
Canada Note 0s value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle); offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
St. John's 6 Increase in homicide, shoplifting of $5,000 or under and robbery; partially offset be decrease in mischief and theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
Halifax 6 Increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under,Appendix D Note 6 as well as homicide, breaking and entering, violent firearms offences and attempted murder; partially offset by decrease in theft of $5,000 or under.
Moncton 9 Increase in breaking and entering, as well as sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in fraud and identity theft.
Saint John -2 Decrease in robbery; partially offset by increase in theft of $5,000 or under and child pornography.
Saguenay 14 Increase in sexual violations against children, as well as fraud; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Québec 2 Increase in identity fraud and sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Sherbrooke 6 Increase in fraud and identity fraud.
Trois-Rivières 6 Increase in sexual assault (level 1) and fraud; partially offset by decrease in homicide.
Montréal 6 Increase in sexual assault (level 1) and theft of motor vehicle; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
GatineauAppendix D Note 4 -4 Decrease in homicide and breaking and entering, as well as robbery; partially offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
OttawaAppendix D Note 5 4 Increase in violent firearms offences, homicide and shoplifting of $5,000 or under; partially offset by decrease in identity fraud, breaking and entering and robbery.
Kingston 3 Increase fraud.
Belleville 8 Increase in administration of justice violations, as well as breaking and entering and fraud; partially offset by decrease in child pornography.
Peterborough 4 Increase in breaking and entering, as well as sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in fraud.
Toronto -2 Decrease in breaking and entering and robbery.
Hamilton 2 Increase in fraud and sexual assault (level 1); partially offset by decrease in violent firearms offences.
St. Catharines–Niagara 6 Increase in fraud, as well as breaking and entering; partially offset by decrease in importation or exportation under the Cannabis Act and child pornography.
Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo 6 Increase in breaking and entering and theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle); partially offset by decrease in homicide.
Brantford -7 Decrease in breaking and entering, robbery, and trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cocaine and heroin.
Guelph -8 Decrease in homicide, fraud, theft of $5,000 or under, and robbery; partially offset by increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under.
London 7 Increase in shoplifting of $5,000 or under, homicide, and robbery; partially offset by decrease in theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) and fraud.
Windsor 6 Increase in homicide, as well as shoplifting of $5,000 or under; partially offset by decrease in violent firearms offences.
Barrie 2 Increase in breaking and entering.
Greater Sudbury -4 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as fraud, identity fraud; partially offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
Thunder Bay 7 Increase in robbery, human trafficking under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, sexual assault (level 1), trafficking, production, importation or exportation of cocaine, and sexual violations against children; partially offset by decrease in homicide and theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle).
Winnipeg -3 Decrease in shoplifting of $5,000 or under and mischief; partially offset by increase in homicide.
Regina 6 Increase in breaking and entering and homicide; partially offset by decrease in attempted murder.
Saskatoon Note 0s value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded Increase in sexual violations against children, theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) and robbery; offset by decrease in homicide.
Lethbridge -7 Decrease in theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), as well as breaking and entering, other Criminal Code traffic violations, and possession of stolen property; partially offset by increase in assault (level 2).
Calgary -9 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), and homicide; partially offset by increase in robbery and administration of justice violations.
Edmonton -8 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as robbery, theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle), and shoplifting of $5,000 or under; partially offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).
Kelowna 6 Increase in child pornography, shoplifting of $5,000 or under, mischief and fraud; partially offset by decrease in trafficking, production, importation or exportation of methamphetamine, and identity fraud.
Abbotsford–Mission 1 Increase in importation or exportation under the Cannabis Act, robbery and child pornography; partially offset by decrease in breaking and entering.
Vancouver -8 Decrease in breaking and entering, as well as theft of $5,000 or under; partially offset by increase in homicide.
Victoria -6 Decrease in breaking and entering and theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle); partially offset by increase in sexual assault (level 1).

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

Chart E1 start

Chart E1 Police-reported Crime Severity Index, Atlantic provinces and Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart E1 
Data table for chart e1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart e1. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada, calculated using Crime Severity Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Newfoundland and Labrador Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia New Brunswick Canada
Crime Severity Index
1998 76.4 73.3 105.4 90.0 118.8
1999 69.2 79.0 104.6 90.0 111.2
2000 70.1 76.3 95.3 84.8 106.7
2001 69.1 75.4 92.5 83.4 105.3
2002 71.4 85.2 93.9 84.6 104.1
2003 74.4 91.0 101.4 87.8 106.8
2004 79.3 81.9 106.7 87.9 104.1
2005 78.5 76.8 102.1 79.5 101.3
2006 73.1 71.8 101.1 74.2 100.0
2007 75.3 64.1 91.9 70.8 95.3
2008 71.1 68.7 84.2 71.8 90.6
2009 71.5 66.4 84.0 70.7 87.8
2010 78.7 66.4 83.6 69.2 82.9
2011 71.9 67.3 79.5 66.2 77.6
2012 68.0 73.6 76.9 68.0 75.5
2013 68.5 65.3 70.1 60.0 68.9
2014 62.4 55.8 66.8 56.0 66.9
2015 65.8 50.6 63.3 62.4 70.4
2016 69.6 49.3 62.3 61.6 72.0
2017 63.5 45.9 66.3 68.8 73.6
2018 64.9 54.2 65.6 73.0 75.6
2019 71.9 64.3 66.4 80.2 79.8
2020 69.6 57.2 72.2 83.4 73.9
2021 75.5 57.0 71.6 88.5 73.7

Chart E1 end

Chart E2 start

Chart E2 Police-reported Crime Severity Index, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart E2 
Data table for chart e2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart e2. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Canada, calculated using Crime Severity Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Quebec Ontario British Columbia Canada
Crime Severity Index
1998 112.7 100.7 166.9 118.8
1999 104.3 92.3 155.8 111.2
2000 101.8 89.0 144.7 106.7
2001 96.6 86.5 146.6 105.3
2002 93.5 84.5 148.1 104.1
2003 92.9 83.2 154.7 106.8
2004 90.3 78.2 153.4 104.1
2005 89.9 77.0 146.3 101.3
2006 91.0 78.6 139.8 100.0
2007 84.7 74.5 132.4 95.3
2008 83.0 70.9 121.8 90.6
2009 81.5 69.3 111.9 87.8
2010 76.0 65.6 104.1 82.9
2011 73.4 61.2 96.7 77.6
2012 70.7 59.0 94.5 75.5
2013 62.7 52.6 87.7 68.9
2014 57.7 49.9 90.2 66.9
2015 57.0 51.1 92.7 70.4
2016 56.6 53.3 91.7 72.0
2017 57.8 56.4 87.1 73.6
2018 56.5 60.4 88.8 75.6
2019 55.8 61.0 104.3 79.8
2020 51.6 55.5 97.4 73.9
2021 54.3 56.2 92.9 73.7

Chart E2 end

Chart E3 start

Chart E3 Police-reported Crime Severity Index, Prairie provinces and Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart E3 
Data table for chart e3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart e3. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Canada, calculated using Crime Severity Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta Canada
Crime Severity Index
1998 154.5 176.2 122.5 118.8
1999 152.6 167.3 118.8 111.2
2000 149.5 169.4 111.3 106.7
2001 152.5 176.4 114.8 105.3
2002 148.3 175.7 116.3 104.1
2003 161.3 199.5 124.8 106.8
2004 163.3 192.3 124.1 104.1
2005 156.7 181.3 121.9 101.3
2006 155.9 170.5 115.6 100.0
2007 150.8 164.7 114.4 95.3
2008 129.9 152.5 112.0 90.6
2009 137.7 149.5 105.6 87.8
2010 127.3 148.2 98.2 82.9
2011 116.0 143.6 87.5 77.6
2012 114.5 138.8 86.1 75.5
2013 100.7 126.5 85.3 68.9
2014 96.7 125.0 87.6 66.9
2015 106.3 138.3 104.5 70.4
2016 115.4 151.4 106.0 72.0
2017 119.0 143.2 112.1 73.6
2018 126.2 140.7 113.7 75.6
2019 139.7 149.6 120.1 79.8
2020 125.8 142.6 108.7 73.9
2021 126.9 146.8 101.4 73.7

Chart E3 end

Chart E4 start

Chart E4 Police-reported Crime Severity Index, Territories and Canada, 1998 to 2021

Data table for Chart E4 
Data table for chart e4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart e4. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Canada, calculated using Crime Severity Index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Yukon Northwest Territories Nunavut Canada
Crime Severity Index
1998 226.2 267.5 Note ...: not applicable 118.8
1999 230.4 255.4 218.8 111.2
2000 267.7 251.9 250.3 106.7
2001 248.8 260.4 288.9 105.3
2002 263.9 297.2 318.5 104.1
2003 258.7 339.4 360.8 106.8
2004 245.4 353.3 372.1 104.1
2005 199.4 343.3 327.1 101.3
2006 180.4 316.0 279.9 100.0
2007 186.3 335.8 316.0 95.3
2008 182.8 342.9 326.5 90.6
2009 180.9 326.2 332.9 87.8
2010 171.0 348.1 343.1 82.9
2011 154.7 342.0 315.1 77.6
2012 156.0 338.1 318.2 75.5
2013 169.4 315.0 286.0 68.9
2014 187.3 290.2 283.7 66.9
2015 183.0 321.9 275.2 70.4
2016 185.9 297.4 294.9 72.0
2017 183.9 309.5 300.5 73.6
2018 172.1 325.3 325.5 75.6
2019 212.7 389.0 371.8 79.8
2020 214.7 414.1 378.0 73.9
2021 213.3 391.3 384.1 73.7

Chart E4 end

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

Chart F5 start

Chart F5 Police-reported Crime Severity Index, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Data table for Chart F5 
Data table for chart f5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart f5. The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (CMA) (appearing as row headers), Crime Severity Index (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area (CMA)Data table for chart f5 Note 1 Data table for chart f5 Note 2 Data table for chart f5 Note 3 Crime Severity Index
Canada 73.7
St. John’s 67.9
Halifax 65.7
Moncton 113.4
Saint John 51.1
Saguenay 50.0
Québec 42.6
Sherbrooke 50.9
Trois-Rivières 50.6
Montréal 55.9
GatineauData table for chart f5 Note 4 49.6
OttawaData table for chart f5 Note 5 49.3
Kingston 72.8
Belleville 69.3
Peterborough 64.8
Toronto 45.5
Hamilton 56.9
St. Catharines–Niagara 62.1
Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo 79.4
Brantford 75.7
Guelph 58.2
London 80.1
Windsor 74.8
Barrie 45.9
Greater Sudbury 84.4
Thunder Bay 101.3
Winnipeg 113.6
Regina 110.9
Saskatoon 106.0
Lethbridge 128.7
Calgary 72.3
Edmonton 97.5
Kelowna 122.3
Abbotsford–Mission 78.2
Vancouver 81.6
Victoria 71.5

Chart F5 end

Chart F6 start

Chart F6 Police-reported Violent Crime Severity Index, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Data table for Chart F6 
Data table for chart f5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart f5. The information is grouped by Census metropolitan area (CMA) (appearing as row headers), Crime Severity Index (appearing as column headers).
Census metropolitan area (CMA)Data table for chart f5 Note 1 Data table for chart f5 Note 2 Data table for chart f5 Note 3 Crime Severity Index
Canada 92.5
St. John’s 98.2
Halifax 91.7
Moncton 98.0
Saint John 53.8
Saguenay 81.6
Québec 59.7
Sherbrooke 73.9
Trois-Rivières 76.7
Montréal 82.0
GatineauData table for chart f5 Note 4 72.5
OttawaData table for chart f5 Note 5 62.3
Kingston 76.0
Belleville 83.8
Peterborough 84.4
Toronto 65.0
Hamilton 76.5
St. Catharines–Niagara 64.2
Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo 86.6
Brantford 87.3
Guelph 51.6
London 92.8
Windsor 72.1
Barrie 50.2
Greater Sudbury 127.2
Thunder Bay 176.3
Winnipeg 159.6
Regina 141.3
Saskatoon 121.4
Lethbridge 114.3
Calgary 82.7
Edmonton 110.0
Kelowna 110.8
Abbotsford–Mission 85.8
Vancouver 79.0
Victoria 82.4

Chart F6 end

Key terminology and definitions

Incident (or Offence): A criminal incident involves one or more related offences that are committed during a single criminal event and have been reported to police. Where there are multiple victims within a single criminal event, a separate aggregate incident is counted for each victim. For example, a single incident involving an assault on three victims at the same time and location is counted in the aggregate statistics as three incidents of assault. For an incident to be counted 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 the CSI are based on the most serious violation in the criminal incident. For the purposes of this article, offence and incident are used interchangeably.

Most serious violation: Individuals accused of crime are categorized by the most serious violation occurring in the police-reported incident in which they are accused. In incidents with multiple accused involving multiple violations, each individual in the incident will be coded 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 the most 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 of incident, any charges against the accused may be for less serious offences in the incident.

Founded: An incident is “founded” if, after police investigation it has been determined that the reported offence did occur or was attempted (even if the charged/suspect chargeable (CSC) [i.e., the accused] is unknown) or there is no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not take place. This includes third-party reports that fit these criteria. For the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the concept of a CSC refers to a person against whom there is enough evidence for police to either lay a charge or recommend to the Crown that a charge be laid. Effective January 1, 2018.

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

Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA): A CMA or CA is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more must live in the core. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flows derived 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 and small town area: Rural police services serve a territory where the majority of the population lives outside a CMA or CA. While small towns that do not qualify as CAs are included in this category, the term “rural area” will be used for the sake of brevity. Police services are classified “rural” or “urban” based on the majority of the population they serve, rather than on the exact place of residence of each Canadian. Consequently, urban residents can be served by a police service classified as “rural,” and vice versa. In the interest of conciseness, the terms “rural” (or “rural area”) and “urban” (or “urban area”) are used to designate areas or populations based on the classification of the police services that serve them. The definitions of “rural” and “urban” in this report may differ from those used in other Statistics Canada reports.

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

Violent offences: Involve the use or threat of violence against a person, including homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and robbery. Robbery is considered a violent offence because, unlike other theft offences, it involves the use or threat of violence. See Table 3 for a list of selected offences in this category.

Homicide: Includes first and second degree murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Deaths caused by criminal negligence, suicide and accidental or justifiable homicide are not included in this classification.

Gang-related homicide: A homicide is classified as gang-related when police confirm or suspect that the accused person and/or victim involved in the homicide was either a member, or a prospective member, of an organized crime group or street gang or was somehow associated with an organized crime group or street gang, and the homicide was carried out as a result of this association. Prior to 2005, police were asked if the homicide was "gang-related". Beginning in 2005, the question was 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-related violent crime: 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.

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

Assault (physical): Refers to the Criminal Code categories of physical assault.

Sexual assault: Is classified by level in the Criminal Code into three separate categories—depending on the nature and severity of the incident—including level 1, assault of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim; level 2, sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm involves sexual assault with a weapon, threats to use a weapon or causing bodily harm; and level 3, aggravated sexual assault involves sexual assault that wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the victim.

Sexual violations against children: Include Criminal Code violations that specifically concern offences involving child and youth victims. These include sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, making sexually explicit material available to children for the purpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth, luring a child via telecommunications or the agreement/arrangement by means of telecommunication to commit a sexual offence against a child. As of December 2014, also includes the offences of parent or guardian procuring sexual activity (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 other person who has control of premises or assists in the management or control of premises” (Criminal Code, s. 171). Incidents of child pornography are not included in the category of sexual violations against children. Excludes incidents of sexual assault level 1, 2 and 3 against children and youth which are counted within those three violation categories.

Other sexual offences: not involving sexual assault or sexual violations against children are included with “other violent offences.”

Non-violent offences: Include property offences and other Criminal Code offences, as well as Criminal Code traffic offences, drug-related offences and violations of other federal statutes.

Property offences: Involve unlawful acts to gain property, but do not involve the use or threat of violence against the person. They include offences such as break and enter, theft and mischief. See Table 3 for a list of selected offences in this category.

Fraud, Identity Theft and Identity Fraud: Broadly, fraud is an offence by which a person defrauds the 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 person obtains or possesses another person’s identity information with intent to use it to commit an indictable offence (s. 402.2). Identity fraud is an offence by which a person fraudulently personates another person, with intent to gain advantage, property, cause disadvantage or to avoid arrest or prosecution or to obstruct justice (s. 403).

“Other” Criminal Code offences: Include crimes such as disturbing 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-related offences: Include offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act such as possession, trafficking, production, importation and exportation of drugs or narcotics. Examples include cannabis (prior to the enactment of the Cannabis Act on October 17, 2018), cocaine, heroin and other drugs such as methamphetamine (crystal meth), PCP, LSD and ecstasy. Also includes cannabis-related offences under the Cannabis Act, and beginning in November 2017, violations specific to opioids (excluding heroin but including fentanyl).

Other federal statute violations: Include violations of federal statutes other than the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. These include violations of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Detailed data tables

Table 1 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table 2 Police-reported crime rate, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table 3 Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table 4 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2021

Table 5 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by province or territory, 2021

Table 6 Police-reported crime and proportion deemed unfounded, selected offences, Canada, 2019 to 2021

Table 7 Police-reported crime for selected offences, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Table 8 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, by province or territory, 2021

Table 9 Police-reported crime for selected drug offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table 10 Police-reported youth crime for selected offences, Canada, 2020 and 2021

Table 11 Youth accused of police-reported crime, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table 12 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, Canada, 2011 to 2021

Table 13 Police-reported youth Crime Severity Indexes, by province or territory, 2021

Table 14 Police-reported crime rate, by province or territory, 2021

Table 15 Police-reported Crime Severity Indexes, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Table 16 Police-reported crime rate, by census metropolitan area, 2021

Survey description

Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

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

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

Each year, the UCR database is “frozen” at the end of May for the production of crime statistics for the preceding calendar year. However, police services continue to send updated data to Statistics Canada after this date for incidents that occurred in previous years. Generally, these revisions constitute new accused records, as incidents are solved and accused persons are identified by police. Some new incidents, however, may be added and previously reported incidents may be deleted as new information becomes known.

Revisions are accepted for a one-year period after the data are initially released. For example, when the 2021 crime statistics are released, the 2020 data are updated with any revisions that have been made between May 2021 and May 2022. The data are revised only once and are then permanently frozen. Over the past 10 years (2012 to 2021), data corresponding to previous years have been revised upward 9 times and revised downward 1 time, with an average annual revision of 0.33%. The 2020 revision to counts of persons charged and youth not charged resulted in a 0.8% increase to 2020 counts.

Measuring incidents of crime

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

Police services can report up to four violations for each incident; however, this has typically only been the practice since the late 1980s and not for all police services. Therefore, both the traditional crime rate and the CSI are based on the most serious violation in the criminal incident. By basing the measures on the 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 be under-represented. This has little or no effect on serious violent offences such as homicide, sexual assault and aggravated assault; however, some—but not all—minor offences are less likely to be the most serious violation when they are occurring at the same time as other more serious violations. These secondary offences, therefore, are not included in the calculation of aggregate statistics, the crime rate and the CSI.

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

For more information on counting crime in Canada, see Measuring Crime in Canada: Introducing the Crime Severity Index and Improvements to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (Wallace et al. 2009), The Methodology of the Police-reported Crime Severity Index (Babyak et al. 2009), and Updating the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights (Cormack and Tabuchi 2020).

Crime rate

The traditional crime 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 rate is calculated by summing all Criminal Code incidents reported by the police and dividing by the population count. The crime rate excludes Criminal Code traffic violations, as well as other federal statute violations such as drug offences.

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

In addition to the overall crime rate, rates are calculated for violent crime, property crime and other Criminal Code offences. Further, the rates of youth who have either been charged by police or dealt with through the use of extrajudicial measures are available for all crime categories.

Crime Severity Index

The CSI was developed to address the limitation of the police-reported crime rate being driven by high-volume, but relatively less serious, offences. The CSI not only takes into account the volume of crime, but also the relative severity of crime. As such, the CSI will vary when changes in either the volume of crime or the average severity of crime—or both the volume and the average severity—are recorded.

In order to calculate the police-reported CSI, each violation is assigned a weight. CSI weights are based on the violation’s incarceration rate, as well as the average length of prison sentence handed down by criminal courts.Note  The more serious the average sentence, the higher the weight assigned to the offence, meaning that the more serious offences have a greater impact on the CSI. Unlike the traditional crime rate, all offences, including Criminal Code traffic violations and other federal statute violations such as drug offences, are included in the CSI.

To calculate the CSI, the weighted offences are summed and then divided by the population. Similar to other indexes (e.g., Consumer Price Index), to allow for ease of comparison, the CSI is then standardized to a base year of “100” (for the CSI, the base year is 2006). All CSI values are relative to the Canada-level CSI for 2006. CSI values are available back to 1998.

In addition to the overall CSI, both a Violent CSI (VCSI) and a Non-violent CSI (NVCSI) have been created, which—like the overall CSI—are available back to 1998. The VCSI is comprised of all police-reported violent violations, and the NVCSI is comprised of all police-reported property violations, other Criminal Code violations, Criminal Code traffic violations, and other federal statute violations. All types of CSI measures are also available for youth who have been accused of a crime (charged and not charged).

To adjust to changes in sentencing patterns from the courts, and amendments to the Criminal Code and other federal statutes, the weights are updated every five years. The most recent update was carried out in 2018 and applies to 2019 revised and 2020 data presented in this article.

For more information on the CSI, see Measuring Crime in Canada: Introducing the Crime Severity Index and Improvements to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (Wallace et al. 2009), The Methodology of the Police-reported Crime Severity Index (Babyak et al. 2009), Updating the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index Weights: Refinements to the Methodology (Babyak et al. 2013), Updating the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index: Calculating 2018 Weights (Cormack and Tabuchi 2020), and the Measuring Crime in Canada: A detailed look at the Crime Severity Index video (Statistics Canada 2016).

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