Statistics Canada’s latest report on crime in Canada reveals there were 788 homicides in 2021, a 17-year high.
Saskatchewan saw both the highest rate of homicides and the highest rate of gang-related killings. The province’s homicide rate went up nine per cent from 2020.
Manitoba had the second-highest rate, while Ontario and British Columbia also saw large increases.
Alberta and Nova Scotia had significant drops, with the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia contributing to its decrease the following year.
Homicides remain relatively rare in Canada, said Statistics Canada, and accounted in 2021 for less than 0.2 per cent of all police-reported violent crimes.
The cities of Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, Ont., had the highest rates of homicides.
The data released Monday showed 184 of the homicides were gang-related. The agency said it’s the highest rate since data about gang killings was first collected 16 years ago.
In particular, there were 13 additional gang-related homicides in Ontario compared with the previous year. British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Yukon also saw increases in killings connected to gangs.
