Canada’s homicide rate sees biggest decline since 1986: StatCan

Canada’s 2025 homicide rate saw its largest year-over-year decline since 1986, new data from Statistics Canada shows.

Police reported 672 homicides in 2025, 125 fewer than a year prior and down 16 per cent in comparison to 2024.

Among 2025 homicide victims, 175 women and girls were killed, 67 fewer than in 2024, while the number of men and boys decreased by 53, equaling 494 victims.

The agency also reports that “while men and boys accounted for the majority (74 per cent) of homicide victims, women were disproportionately killed by their spouses or intimate partners (41 per cent versus five per cent).”

Separate data from Statistics Canada released on July 8 said the average rate of firearm-related intimate partner violence was 31 per cent higher from 2020 to 2024 than from 2015 to 2019 and 58 per cent higher than from 2010 to 2014.

In addition, gang-related homicides also saw a drop, going from 155 in 2024 to 119 in 2025, accounting for less than one-fifth (18 per cent) of all homicides.

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The homicide victimization rate among Indigenous people “was approximately eight times higher than that of the non-Indigenous population” in 2025.

Canada’s homicide rate reached its highest level in 30 years in 2023, increasing by nearly eight per cent to 2.25 homicides per 100,000 population at the time, totalling the highest homicide rate since 1992.

Breaking and entering, which Statistics Canada calls the “most severe property crime based on its weight in the Crime Severity Index (CSI),” had “the largest impact on the decline in the CSI in 2025.”

The police-reported rate for breaking and entering dropped 11 per cent to 264 incidents per 100,000 people, falling in all provinces and territories.

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This rate also dropped 41 per cent in comparison to 2015, and was 77 per cent lower than in 1998, the first year with comparable data.

There were 208,941 incidents of shoplifting in 2025, up 11 per cent from 2024, marking the fifth consecutive increase in the country’s shoplifting rate.

Between 2015 and 2025, that’s a rise of 79 per cent.

Shoplifting of $5,000 or under was the largest contributor to offset the overall trend of declining crime numbers — the second year that’s been the case, Statistics Canada says.

That’s in comparison to minor theft more broadly seeing a five per cent decrease.

The rate of motor vehicle theft fell 16 per cent in 2025, totalling 83,652 incidents.

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This marks the second consecutive decrease following three years of annual increases. From the 2003 peak, the 2025 rate is 64 per cent lower.

The police-reported rate of total fraud, which Statistics Canada said consists of general fraud, identity theft and identity fraud, decreased four per cent in 2025, which was found to be 61 per cent higher than in 2015.

“Often associated with fraud, extortion is a violent crime that involves obtaining property through coercion,” Statistics Canada said.

“The police-reported rate of extortion decreased for the second consecutive year, down 10 per cent to 29 incidents per 100,000 population in 2025. However, the rate was over three times higher in 2025 than a decade earlier (9 incidents per 100,000 population in 2015).”

Despite the volume of fraud and extortion, “many of these crimes go unreported to police.”

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The rate of child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAEM) incidents, formerly known as child pornography, declined 21 per cent in 2025, the second consecutive year this decrease has been found.

The 2025 decline was also the second largest contributor to the decrease in the CSI.

Hate crimes reported to police also decreased by just three per cent, with 4,841 incidents in 2024 to 4,708 incidents in 2025. Religiously motivated hate crimes against Jewish Canadians dropped 16 per cent compared to the previous year, but Jewish people continued to overwhelmingly be the victims of those crimes.

There were 788 religiously motivated hate crimes against Jews compared to 204 against Muslims, 36 against Catholics, 71 against those of other religions and 16 cases where religion wasn’t specified.

Prior to 2025, the number of hate crimes had more than doubled (166 per cent) from 2018 to 2024.

Out of the 4,708 police reported hate crimes from last year, 2,391 stemmed from race or ethnicity, 1,115 came from religion and 534 were reportedly due to sexual orientation.