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Crime Statistics

Unreported Crime Skews Statistics
As for the unreported crime, statistics Canada’s police-reported crime statistics show Canada’s crime rate falling each year.

However, these numbers only tell part of the story. Unfortunately, many crimes are not reported to police. A 2004 Criminal Victimization Study conducted by Stats Canada shows that 53 percent of robberies are not reported to police. The study also found that theft of household property was up 42 percent between 2000 and 2004.

Unreported crime because of fear?

In many cases, victims do not report crimes out of fear or because they feel the crime is too trivial to report. Some feel that law enforcement will not be able to catch the criminal and thus there is no point in reporting the crime. Data from the United States presents similar findings of unreported crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that only about 40 percent of property crimes were reported to the police in 2008.

Only 33 percent of violent crimes are reported in Canada whereas about half of all violent crimes are reported in the United States.
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Canadian Crime Drops in Past Decade, Still Up From 1960’s and 70’s
This summer, Statistics Canada released stats for police-reported crime in 2009. Canadian crime is once again down, falling 3% between 2008 and 2009 and 17% between 1999 and 2009.

Canadian crime by provinces

The highest crime rates in the country are in the western provinces and northern territories. The only crime increases came in Manitoba and Nunavut. Nunavut had the highest crime severity index ranking in the country and the highest violent Canadian crime ranking as well. Prince Edward Island was the safest province in the country.

In terms of metropolitan areas, Regina, Saskatchewan is the most dangerous region in the country followed by Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Guelph, Ontario, Quebec City, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario are the safest. The national crime rate reached a peak in the late 1980s/early 1990s and the current rate is similar to the late 1970s. However, the crime rate from 1962 to 1972 was much lower than it is today. Canada’s crime rate was 131% higher in 2009 than in 1962, when Statistics Canada first started keeping records.

So while the good news is that crime continues to fall, it’s obvious that we have a long road ahead of us.
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