An Alberta city leads Canada in a certain type of violent crime
A city in Alberta leads the pack when it comes to firearm-related violent crime among the largest urban areas in Canada, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
After reaching a 14-year high in 2022, the rate of firearm-related violent crime in Canada declined 1.7 per cent in 2023. Firearm-related homicides also fell for the first time since 2018.
Around half (49 per cent) of firearm-related violent crime involved the presence of a handgun in 2023, down from 53 per cent in 2022.
StatsCan says among the census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Toronto had the largest number of incidents (2,449) of firearm-related violent crime by a wide margin in 2023. However, as Canadaās most populous CMA, Toronto ranked 11th in terms of rates (40.4 incidents per 100,000 population).
The CMA of Red Deer had the highest rates in Canada at 79.6 incidents per 100,000 people, followed by Regina at 78.9, Chilliwack at 54.8, Winnipeg at 53.7, and Saskatoon at 52.7.
When it comes to the lowest rates among CMAs in Canada, Victoria led the country at 8.7 incidents per 100,000 people, followed by Guelph at 11.5, Peterborough at 12.1, and Sherbrooke at 13.6.
While several CMAs had declines between 2022 and 2023, the decline in the urban south was driven by rate decreases in Toronto (-9.2 per cent, or -157 incidents), Calgary (-22 per cent, -130 incidents), MontrĆ©al (-12 per cent, -127 incidents), and Vancouver (-15 per cent,-75 incidents). For Canadaās other largest CMAs, rates rose in Edmonton (+11 per cent, +100 incidents) and Ottawa (+5.7 per cent, +25 incidents).
There were notable changes for some CMAs in 2023, including down in Lethbridge, which saw a 70 per cent increase with 27 more incidents recorded.
The full Statistics Canada data is available online.