Both the crime rate and an index that captures the severity of crimes committed in Toronto and Ontario were down last year, according to new data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday. Officials with the national statistics agency say that the rate of break-and-enters nationwide decreased for a third consecutive year and were the largest contributor to the decline of what’s known as the Crime Severity Index (CSI) in Canada in 2025. Homicides, vehicle thefts, fraud, and police-reported child sexual abuse were also down across the country. Incidents of shoplifting under $5,000, however, were up 11 per cent. The CSI, which measures both crime volume and severity, weighing more serious offences more heavily, decreased seven per cent in Toronto last year. The conventional crime rate, which covers all Criminal Code offences excluding traffic violations, dropped five per cent. The lowering CSI trend was slightly more pronounced across Ontario, where the province saw a six per cent decrease. The crime rate saw a four per cent drop provincewide. Nationally, the CSI decreased by five per cent, marking the second consecutive annual decrease. Shootings, homicides down in Toronto Data from the Toronto Police Service (which was not included in the report) shows that some of its major crimes are down year-over-year, including homicides, shootings, robberies, and break-and-enters. Shooting deaths are up 27 per cent. But Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw has said those numbers fail to capture the sense of community safety in the wake of a brazen crime, like the deadly shooting on the Salsa on St. Clair street festival earlier this month. “Because while they (statistics) are important for us to share publicly…It really doesn’t speak to the heart of the matter, which is how people feel. And it’s very important for us to acknowledge that a weekend like this shakes our city,” Demkiw said in the aftermath of the shooting at the packed event that killed two and left several others injured. Deputy Chief Frank Barredo told reporters in the hours after the shooting that Toronto remains “one of the safest cities in the world.” While that may be true in the context of some of Toronto’s recent decreasing criminal activity, the comment faced backlash from mayoral candidate and Coun. Brad Bradford and others. “That is the wrong message and I don’t agree with that and that is not how people feel,” he said at the time. Speaking to Newstalk 1010, former Toronto police homicide detective Mark Mendelson echoed Demkiw and Bradford’s point and said the numbers presented Wednesday don’t support “the real metric” of how safe people “feel” in the city. “People are afraid. They talk about safety on the TTC. We just experienced tragedy and murder during a street festival. Gang-related crimes. Human trafficking and on and on and on,” he said. “That’s the metric people in this city use to determine whether they feel safe or not. The numbers don’t support that feeling, but that feeling I think is far more important than the numbers.” A roundtable was held earlier this week to address the violence at the Salsa on St. Clair after one of the organizers, TLN Media Group, threatened to pull out of the event unless the city provides “concrete commitments” to enhance policing and security. Hate crimes down, but Jewish and Black Canadians still most targeted groups The national data shows that hate crimes overall saw a decrease in 2025. There were 4,708 offences reported to police where a victim was targeted for their race or ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. That marks a three per cent drop from the year before, or 133 fewer incidents. Of those targeted for their race or ethnicity, Black Canadians were disproportionately victimized with 858 incidents reported to police. The second-most targeted group, South Asians, were victimized in 483 reported incidents. In terms of hate crimes motivated by religion, Jewish Canadians represented the most targeted group with 788 individuals victimized across Canada last year of the 1,115 hate crimes reported. Noah Shack is the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and said Wednesday’s numbers are concerning. “This is an alarming fact of life for Jewish Canadians. But of course, one hate crime targeting any Canadian is unacceptable and sends shockwaves through communities across this country,” he told CP24. Toronto Police Service statistics show that there was a 46.7 per cent drop in hate crimes in the city in 2025. The city’s hate crime victim data is consistent with the national trend. Of the 236 reported hate crimes that year, 83 were against Jewish individuals and 38 were against Black Canadians. “There’s a need right now for the laws to be enforced, for there to be sufficient resources allocated to our national security and police services and prosecution services across this country, and to take every step across all levels of government to restore a Canada defined by peace, order, and good government for all Canadians,” Shack added.
