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• In 2009/2010, there were 911 programs or organizations providing services to victims of crime in Canada. In addition, there were nine provincial criminal injuries compensation programs, four of which were administered in conjunction with other service providers.

• Among those victim service providers that responded to the survey, the largest proportion were police-based (38%) followed by community-based (24%), sexual assault centres (15%), court-based (10%), Ontario Victim Crisis Assistance and Referral Services (7%), and system-based (6%). These proportions are similar to those reported in 2007/2008, the last time the Victim Services Survey (VSS) was conducted.

• The types of assistance most often provided directly by victim service providers included general information (95%), emotional support (93%), liaising with other agencies on behalf of clients (91%), public education/prevention (89%), court accompaniment (87%), information on the criminal justice system structure and process (84%), immediate safety planning (81%) and crisis intervention (80%).

• Criminal injuries compensation programs and financial benefit programs associated with victim service providers offer monetary awards and benefits to victims of crime to help ease the financial hardship incurred as a result of their victimization. In 2009/2010, the nine provincial compensation programs together with financial benefit programs available through other victim service providers indicated that they had awarded more than $63 million to victims of crime. Most (61%) of the money was awarded for pain and suffering, followed by medical, rehabilitation, dental or eyewear costs (9%) and loss of wages (8%).

• From April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, 711 victim service providers reported that they helped almost 410,000 primary and secondary victims of crime. Information from a subset of victim service providers suggests that this was about 4% less than two years ago, the last time this information was collected.

• Three-quarters of clients assisted by victim service providers were women. For both women and men, victims most often sought assistance in response to a violent crime.

• Data provided from 772 victim service providers indicated that the equivalent of 1,880 full-time paid employees had worked from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. In addition, 73% of victim service providers reported having 8,553 volunteers over the same period.

• On the survey snapshot day (May 27, 2010), nearly 9,500 victims sought assistance from one of the 729 victim service agencies that provided data. The majority (81%) of victims who sought assistance were victims of a violent offence.

• Of all the clients served on snapshot day, 38% had previously received services from the same victim service provider.