Drug crimes up for first time in 12 years, bucking long-term national trend: StatCan

An O.P.P officer guards 55 kilograms of cocaine during a press conference in Barrie, Ont., on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Statistics Canada says the rate of police-reported drug crime is up for the first time in 12 years but remains well below a “historic peak” recorded in 2011, with cannabis legalization being a major factor behind the overall decline in drug crime rates.

The report said there was a 13 per cent national increase in the drug crime rate between 2023 and 2024, partly due to increases in possession and trafficking charges involving cannabis, cocaine and opioids other than heroin.

That jump bucked the country’s long-term trend of decline, and the national police-reported drug crime rate of 128 per 100,000 population recorded in 2024 is still more than 61 per cent down from a “historic peak” of 330 per 100,000 population recorded in 2011.

The agency’s report released Wednesday says its last major analysis of the country’s drug crime is more than a decade old, and predates “significant developments” such as cannabis legislation and the opioid crisis.

Since cannabis legalization in 2018, the report said, there’s been a “notable shift” in reported drug crime offences.

Cannabis offences made up 66 per cent of all drug crime in 2014, compared to 17 per cent in 2024, StatCan said. The drop in cannabis offences from 77,000 to 9,000 represented a decline of 89 per cent.

Between 2023 and 2024 there were increases in reported possession, trafficking and import and export offences.

Possession offences for opioids excluding heroin were up, while cocaine trafficking offences also increased.

Crimes involving cocaine made up 27 per cent of all offences in 2024.

“Of all drug offences, those related to cocaine were the most prevalent, accounting for more than one in four drug crimes,” the report said.

The report found the Northwest Territories had the highest drug crime rate in 2024, with 2,591 incidents per 100,000 population, more than quadruple the next highest rate in Yukon and more than ten times the rate in British Columbia.

Vancouver had the highest rate of increase among major cities between 2023 and 2024 at 35 per cent.

The statistics agency said the rate of possession offences that once accounted for three quarters of all drug-related crimes in Canada dropped by more than 40 per cent between 2014 and 2024, while the overall police-reported drug crime rate fell 56 per cent in that decade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2025