Homicides

Canada's homicide rate increased in 2002 after two years of relative stability. At the same time, the proportion of homicides committed with firearms fell to an all-time low.

Police services reported 582 homicides in 2002, 29 more than in 2001. As a result, the national homicide rate climbed 4% to 1.85 homicides for every 100,000 people, compared with 1.78 in 2001.

Just over one-quarter (26%) of homicides were committed with a firearm last year, the lowest proportion since statistics were first collected in 1961. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, firearms accounted for 40% to 50% of all homicides. This proportion has generally been decreasing since 1974.

A total of 149 homicides reported in 2002 were committed with firearms, 22 fewer than in 2001. This total represented a rate of 0.47 for every 100,000 people, the lowest since 1966.

Last year's increase in homicides was driven by a large jump in British Columbia, where there were 126 homicides reported in 2002, up from 84 in 2001. Contributing to the increase in British Columbia were 15 homicides of missing women that occurred in previous years in Port Coquitlam and that were reported by police in 2002.

Canada's homicide rate had stabilized in 2000 and 2001, after having generally decreased since the mid-1970s. The 2002 rate was similar to that of Australia and France and was one-third that of the United States.

Overall, stabbings were the most common method (31%) of committing homicide in 2002, followed by shootings (26%), beatings (21%) and strangulation or suffocation (11%).

Handguns account for two-thirds of firearm homicides

Handguns accounted for two-thirds of the 149 firearm homicides in 2002, up from about one-half during the 1990s and one-third prior to 1990. The 98 homicides committed with a handgun last year were consistent with the annual average over the past decade.

There has been a declining trend in the use of rifles and shotguns; they now account for only one-quarter of all firearm homicides. A total of 37 homicides were committed with a rifle or shotgun in 2002, substantially fewer than the previous 10-year average of 67. The remaining 14 firearm homicides were committed with other types of firearms.

Of all the handguns used to commit homicide that were recovered by police since 1997, about three-quarters (72%) were not registered. Where ownership could be determined by police, the handgun was owned by the accused in 49% of these homicides and by the victim in 3%; the majority of the remaining handguns were stolen or borrowed.

Drop in gang-related killings

For a second consecutive year, gang-related homicides dropped substantially. There were 45 gang-related homicides in 2002, 16 fewer than in 2001 and 27 fewer than the peak of 72 in 2000. Most of the drop over the past two years has been a result of a large decrease in the province of Quebec.

Part of the national decrease in the use of firearms to commit homicide was related to the decline in gang-related killings. Gang-related homicides are more than twice as likely to involve firearms as those not involving gangs.

Most homicides committed by an acquaintance or a family member

As has been the case in the past, most homicides were committed by someone known to the victim.

In 2002, 44% of reported homicides were perpetrated by an acquaintance, 40% by a family member and 15% by a stranger. Among the 200 victims killed by an acquaintance, 100 were killed by a casual acquaintance, 37 by someone known to them through a criminal relationship such as drug dealing and prostitution, 29 by a close friend, and 34 by another type of acquaintance.

Almost half of the 182 victims killed by a family member were killed by their spouse. Of the 84 spousal homicides in 2002, 67 were women killed by their husbands, 16 were men killed by their wives, and one was killed by a same-sex partner.

The spousal homicide rate dropped 3%, following a 25% increase in 2001. Despite annual fluctuations, the spousal homicide rate has generally been declining since the mid-1970s for both men and women.

Including homicides committed by current or ex-boyfriends or girlfriends, 44% of all female victims and 8% of all male victims were killed by someone with whom they had a relationship at one point in time, either through marriage or dating.

Though there were 15 more people killed by a stranger in 2002 than in 2001, the 69 victims equalled the average number killed by a stranger over the past 10 years.

Men are more likely to be killed by a stranger than women. In 2002, 1 in 5 male victims were killed by a stranger, compared with 1 in 14 female victims.

Most people involved in homicide have a previous criminal record

Almost two-thirds of the 523 people accused of committing homicide in 2002 had a criminal record.

Of those with a criminal record, three-quarters had been previously convicted of a violent offence, including 8 for homicide. One-half of all homicide victims aged 12 and over also had a criminal record.

Consistent with previous years, men accounted for 9 in 10 accused, and about two-thirds of all homicide victims. Slightly more than half of all victims and accused were aged between 18 and 39.

Men involved in homicide tended to be younger than women in the case of both victims and accused. The peak age group for men involved in homicide last year was 18 to 24, compared with 25 to 29 for women.

A total of 42 youths aged 12 to 17 were charged with homicide, 12 more than in 2001. Despite this increase, the number of youths charged was still lower than the previous 10-year average of 50.

The rate of youths charged with homicide (1.7 per 100,000 youth) in 2002 was much lower than the peak rate of 4.8 for those aged 18 to 24.

Homicide rates higher in the west

As has been the case historically, homicide rates generally increased from east to west in 2002. Manitoba reported the highest rate among the provinces for the third year in a row, followed by British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The lowest rates were recorded in the Atlantic provinces.

Outside of British Columbia most provinces remained relatively stable or showed a slight increase in homicides. The only large drop occurred in Quebec (-16%), which had 22 fewer homicides than in 2001. Most of this decline was due to a large drop in the number of gang-related homicides. Quebec's rate of 1.58 homicides for every 100,000 people was its lowest since 1968.

Winnipeg, with 23 homicides, and Saskatoon, with 8 homicides, each reported a homicide rate of 3.41, the highest among census metropolitan areas. Vancouver with 69 homicides was the only other census metropolitan area with a rate above 3 (3.26).

Although Toronto had the most homicides (90), its homicide rate (1.80) was still slightly below the national rate of 1.85. Oshawa was the only census metropolitan area not to have a homicide in 2002.

Available on CANSIM: tables 253-0001 to 253-0006.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3315.

The publication Juristat: Homicide in Canada, 2002, Vol. 23, no. 8 (85-002-XIE20030088421, $8/$70; 85-002-XPE20030088421, $10/$93) is now available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.