Canada’s murder rate hit 10-year high in 2017

Canada’s national statistical agency says the homicide rate in the country hit its highest in almost a decade last year due to a sharp increase in gang-related violence and shootings.

According to a new report published by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, Canada’s murder rate in 2017 rose by 7 percent to a near 10-year high and firearm-related deaths were the highest in 25 years.

The agency said police had reported 660 homicide victims in Canada in 2017, 48 more than in 2016, and that the murder rate was 1.8 victims per 100,000 people — the highest level since 2009.

The report also said gun-related homicide had reached its highest level in Canada with an 18-percent increase since 1992, with 266 firearm-related homicides reported in 2017.

“Firearm-related homicides have been rising since 2014, and gang-related violence has been the primary driver,” Statistics Canada said in the report.

Canada’s national statistical agency reported that Toronto accounted for the most gun-related homicides of all Canadian cities last year, but British Columbia and Quebec were largely responsible for pushing up the national homicide rate.

“With 2.45 homicides per 100,000 population, the homicide rate in British Columbia was up 32 per cent, making it the province’s highest rate since 2009,” the agency said. “This increase occurred in both urban and rural areas and can be partly explained by more gang- and firearm-related homicides.”

The report said statistical data collected by the agency showed the rates of other serious offences — including attempted murder, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault — were all up last year, as was the use of guns in violent crimes.

In July this year, a gunman walked down a busy Toronto street, killing two people and wounding nearly two dozen more before shooting himself.

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