Canada's homicide rate down in most provinces, with 2 exceptions

The homicide rate is declining in Canada, and the country’s three largest cities all saw double-digit percentage decreases in homicides per capita, according to data released this week.

Citing a drop in gang-related and intimate partner homicides, Statistics Canada says the overall homicide rate has dropped below two per 100,000 people for the first time since 2019.

The latest available data looked at homicides in 2023. There were 778 homicide victims that year, or 1.94 homicides per 100,000 people. That amounts to a 14 per cent year-over-year drop in the overall homicide rate in Canada.

Most provinces saw their homicide rate drop, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador (three homicides in 2022, eight in 2023) and Prince Edward Island (zero in 2022, one in 2023).

Despite a 54 per cent decline in the city’s homicide rate, Thunder Bay, Ont., still had the highest homicide rate in 2023 at 5.39 per 100,000 people. Winnipeg (5.04) and Chilliwack, B.C., (4.77) were the next highest.

Canada’s three largest cities all saw their rates decline — Vancouver’s rate dropped 37 per cent year-over-year, Montreal’s dropped 21 per cent and Toronto’s dropped 14 per cent.

One quarter of all homicides in the country were gang-related, according to Statistics Canada. There were 173 gang-related homicides in 2023, down from 204 in 2022.

Intimate partner homicides also declined, down to 67 total homicides from 103 the year before, though women (73 per cent) accounted for a disproportionately high percentage of the victims.

Many perpetrators already under supervision

According to Statistics Canada, “nearly one-third of individuals charged with committing a homicide in the past five years were in custody or under community supervision at the time of the incident.”

That number, from 2019-23, has ranged from 30 to 34 per cent each year.

The report notes “these results are based on individuals who were in custody or under community supervision, which encompasses a broader range than those on bail, including those on remand, sentenced to custody or probation.”