Statistics Canada released Crime Severity Index for year 2017, with Saskatoon on the top

Statistics Canada reports that Police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by both the crime rate and the Crime Severity Index (CSI), increased for the third consecutive year in 2017. The national crime rate rose 1%, while the police-reported CSI increased 2%. 

The data was released on Monday. It includes the country’s 2017 crime severity index, which takes into account the number of crimes reported to police and the seriousness of those crimes.

Saskatoon topped the charts with a crime severity index of 115. Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg all received index scores of 106 or higher, while no other Canadian metropolitan area was above 100.

At the other end of the scale were Toronto (48.7), Quebec City (48.5) and Barrie, Ont. (45.3). The data looked at 34 metropolitan areas across Canada.

Greater Sudbury, Ont., Moncton, N.B. and Guelph, Ont. saw the largest year-over-year increases in their local index scores. The biggest decreases were reported in St. John’s, Regina and Vancouver.

Overall, Canada’s crime severity index for 2017 stood at 72.9, with more than 1.9 million crimes being reported to police. It marked the third straight increase in the national index following 11 years of decreases.

Gun violence also increased, with more than 7,700 Canadians reporting being victims of violent crimes involving one or more guns. The province with the biggest increase in gun-related crime was Saskatchewan, where 116 more such incidents were reported than in 2016 – an increase of 47 per cent.

Toronto led the country in homicides last year, but murder rates there were below the national average, and Canada’s largest metropolitan area was also one of its safer cities, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

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