Table 6
Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2011 and 2012

Table 6
Police-reported crime for selected offences, Canada, 2011 and 2012
Table summary
This table displays the results of police-reported crime for selected offences. The information is grouped by type of offence (appearing as row headers), 2011, 2012, percent change in rate 2011 to 2012 and percent change in rate 2002 to 2012, calculated using number, rate and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence 2011Note r: revised 2012 Percent change in rate 2011 to 2012 Percent change in rate 2002 to 2012
number rate number rate percent
Total crime (excluding traffic)—'crime rate' 1,984,790 5,756 1,949,160 5,588 -3 -26
Violent crime  
Homicide 598 2 543 2 -10 -16
Other violations causing deathNote 1 76 0 97 0 26 -54
Attempted murder 665 2 676 2 0 -10
Sexual assault — Level 3 — aggravated 149 0 130 0 -14 -24
Sexual assault — Level 2 — weapon or bodily harm 400 1 369 1 -9 -11
Sexual assault — Level 1 21,311 62 21,422 61 -1 -20
Sexual violations against childrenNote 2, Note 3, Note 4 3,804 11 3,968 11 3 Note ...: not applicable
Assault — Level 3 — aggravated 3,526 10 3,514 10 -1 16
Assault — Level 2 — weapon or bodily harm 50,431 146 49,537 142 -3 2
Assault — Level 1 173,099 502 169,996 487 -3 -19
Assault against peace officer 11,424 33 10,612 30 -8 12
Other assaults 2,986 9 2,904 8 -4 -36
Firearms — use of, discharge, pointing 1,944 6 2,040 6 4 -15
Robbery 29,790 86 27,680 79 -8 -17
Forcible confinement or kidnapping 3,780 11 3,609 10 -6 6
Abduction 404 1 390 1 -5 -42
Extortion 1,527 4 1,713 5 11 -17
Criminal harassment 21,752 63 22,203 64 1 -5
Uttering threats 71,778 208 70,383 202 -3 -26
Indecent or harassing phone calls 20,258 59 18,712 54 -9 -42
Other violent Criminal Code violations 4,636 13 4,621 13 -1 4
Total 424,338 1,231 415,119 1,190 -3 -17
Property crime  
Breaking and entering 181,250 526 175,712 504 -4 -43
Possession of stolen propertyNote 5, Note 6 21,660 63 17,359 50 -21 -48
Theft of motor vehicle 82,460 239 77,939 223 -7 -57
Theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) 15,095 44 15,449 44 1 -30
Theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) 497,916 1,444 496,781 1,424 -1 -33
Fraud (excluding identity fraud)Note 7 77,741 225 78,433 225 0 -11
Identity fraudNote 7, Note 8 12,013 35 12,739 37 5 Note ...: not applicable
MischiefNote 9 315,776 916 305,520 876 -4 -18
Arson 10,401 30 11,040 32 5 -23
Total 1,214,312 3,521 1,190,972 3,414 -3 -33
Other Criminal Code offences  
Counterfeiting 622 2 441 1 -30 -84
Weapons violations 14,003 41 13,946 40 -2 -5
Child pornographyNote 10, Note 11, Note 12 1,958 6 1,919 6 -3 91
Prostitution 2,452 7 2,077 6 -16 -68
TerrorismNote 13, Note 14 59 0 114 0 91 Note ...: not applicable
Disturbing the peace 117,698 341 112,513 323 -5 13
Administration of justice violations 178,113 517 180,652 518 0 1
Other violations 31,235 91 31,407 90 -1 -26
Total 346,140 1,004 343,069 984 -2 -1
Criminal Code traffic violations  
Impaired drivingNote 15 89,607 260 84,483 242 -7 -5
Other Criminal Code traffic violations 55,922 162 56,386 162 0 31
Total 145,529 422 140,869 404 -4 7
Drug offences  
Possession — cannabis 61,764 179 57,429 165 -8 4
Possession — cocaine 7,355 21 7,847 22 5 19
Possession — other drugsNote 16 10,355 30 10,661 31 2 89
Trafficking, production or distribution — cannabis 16,533 48 15,674 45 -6 -30
Trafficking, production or distribution — cocaine 10,144 29 10,553 30 3 39
Trafficking, production or distribution — other drugs 7,194 21 7,291 21 0 24
Total 113,345 329 109,455 314 -5 6
Other federal statute violations  
Youth Criminal Justice ActNote 17 11,785 34 12,544 36 5 -36
Other federal statutes 20,468 59 23,297 67 13 23
Total 32,253 94 35,841 103 10 -20
Total, all violations 2,275,917 6,600 2,235,325 6,409 -3 -23
... not applicable
r revised
Note 1.

Includes, for example, criminal negligence causing death.

Note 2.

Sexual offences against children is a relatively new crime category with only partial data available prior to 2010; therefore, the percentage change from 2002 to 2012 is not shown.

Note 3.

In August 2012, legislation came into effect making it an offence to make sexually explicit material available to a child for the purpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth. The UCR Survey introduced a new violation code to collect this information.

Note 4.

Includes, for example, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, luring a child via a computer, and (as of 2012) making sexually explicit material available to a child for the purpose of facilitating sexual offences against children/youth.

Note 5.

Includes trafficking and the intent to traffic stolen goods.

Note 6.

In 2011, the UCR survey was modified to create separate categories for possession of stolen property of $5,000 or under, and possession of stolen property over $5,000. As a result, incidents of possession of $5,000 or under may now be reported as secondary offences when occurring in conjunction with more serious offences, leading to a decrease in the number of possession of stolen property incidents reported in 2011.

Note 7.

In January 2010, the UCR survey was modified to create new violation codes for identity fraud and identity theft. Prior to 2010, those offences would have been coded as fraud. Thus, the percentage change from 2002 to 2012 for fraud includes identity fraud and identity theft.

Note 8.

Includes identity theft.

Note 9.

Includes altering/removing/destroying a vehicle identification number.

Note 10.

The offence of “Child Pornography” includes offences under section 163.1 of the Criminal Code which makes it illegal to access, possess, make, print, or distribute child pornography. When the actual victim is not identified, this offence is reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey with the most serious offence being “Child Pornography” which falls under the larger crime category of “Other Criminal Code”. In cases where an actual victim is identified, police will report the most serious offence as sexual assault, sexual exploitation or other sexual violations against children, which falls under the category of “Violent Violations”, and child pornography may be reported as a secondary violation.

Note 11.

In 2002, legislative changes were made to include the use of the Internet for the purpose of committing child pornography offences. Thus, the percentage change in this offence is calculated from 2003 to 2012 in the last column.

Note 12.

In 2012, it was discovered that a police service had been incorrectly applying the agreed upon definition for reporting child pornography incidents to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. As such, the number of violations has been revised for the years 2008 to 2011.

Note 13.

Includes violations related to terrorism, such as hoax terrorist activity, participating in the activity of a terrorist group, commission of offence for terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, instructing to carry out terrorist activity, providing or making available property or services for terrorist purposes, using or possessing property or services for terrorist purposes, harbouring or concealing (terrorist) and freezing of property, disclosure and audit (terrorism). Terrorism is a relatively new crime category with only partial data available prior to 2010; therefore, the percentage change from 2002 to 2012 is not shown.

Note 14.

As a result of terrorist scares arising during the student demonstrations in the Spring of 2012 in Quebec, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales du Québec authorized police to make arrests under terrorism laws, particularly for “hoax terrorism”. Therefore, the increase in terrorism-related incidents is mostly attributable to events related to the student demonstrations.

Note 15.

Includes alcohol and/or drug impaired operation of a vehicle, alcohol and/or drug impaired operation of a vehicle causing death or bodily harm, failure or refusal to comply with testing for the presence of alcohol or drugs and failure or refusal to provide a breath or blood sample.

Note 16.

Includes precursors and equipment.

Note 17.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act replaced the Young Offenders Act and was enacted in April 2003. Thus, the percentage change in this offence is calculated from 2004 to 2012 in the last column.

Note: Police reported statistics may be affected by differences in the way police services deal with minor offences. In some instances, police or municipalities might chose to deal with some minor offences using municipal by-laws or provincial provisions rather than Criminal Code provisions. Counts are based on the most serious violation in the incident. One incident may involve multiple violations. Data for specific types of crime are available, in most cases, from 1977. Rates are calculated on the basis of 100,000 population. Percentage changes are based on unrounded rates. Populations are based upon July 1 estimates from Statistics Canada, Demography Division.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
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