Quebec had a rise in crime in 2022: StatsCan

Police officers are shown at an apartment building in Montreal, Sunday, August 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

In the middle of a particularly violent week in Montreal, newly-released statistics show police-reported crime rose last year in Quebec — a trend also playing out nationwide.

Statistics Canada data released Thursday shows that the Quebec crime rate jumped by just over nine per cent last year, rising to 3,508.44 per 100,000 people — well above pre-pandemic levels and almost double the national rate of five per cent.

Before the pandemic, the crime rate in the province was 3,292.18 in 2019 and has increased since then.

In 2022, the number of crimes reported to Quebec police reached 305,082, an increase of 28,812 from the previous year and significantly more than five years ago (277,173).

The Crime Severity Index (CSI), which measures the volume and severity of crime, also rose in Quebec at a slightly higher rate than the national average. It was at 59.7 in 2022, an increase of 5.5 per cent from the year before. In Canada, the index was at 78.1, a rise of 4.3 per cent.

Looking at violent crime, Quebec saw more increases. The Violent Crime Severity Index inched up to 88 — an increase of just under five per cent, much lower than the increase in 2021 (12.78 per cent).

Nationally, the Violent CSI was recorded at 97.7 — the highest level since 2007, according to Statistics Canada.

Incremental rises in violent crime were also recorded in the province. After a big drop in 2020, violent crime in Quebec rose by 3.6 per cent last year, following a nine per cent increase in 2021.

Those increases are partly driven by homicides, which jumped 20 per cent last year in Quebec, which was not alone — Canada saw the highest homicide rate (2.25 per 100,000) since 1992.

Police attend the scene where a person was shot in Dorval, Que., Monday, June 5, 2023. The man was declared dead on the scene, his identity has not yet been confirmed by police. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Those numbers in Quebec were driven by a violent year in Montreal, which had charges laid in 65 homicides in 2022. Montreal was third among the cities with the highest number of homicides after Toronto (139) and Vancouver (73).

This week alone, the city recorded four homicides since Monday evening, including a double homicide involving a 12-year-old girl in Lachine.

Despite this significant increase, Statistics Canada analyst Warren Silver stressed the need to keep things in perspective.

"Montreal is still lower than most places in Canada," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "The homicide rate in Canada is 2.25 (murders per 100,000 inhabitants), while in Montreal, it's 1.49. So even with the increase, it's still lower than the rest of Canada."

Meanwhile, the rate of violent offences committed with a firearm rose for the eighth consecutive year in the country, while the rate of level 1 sexual assaults increased by three per cent.

NOT JUST QUEBEC

Overall, the statistics agency noted in its report on Thursday that police-reported crime in Canada rose for the second year in a row.

"The consecutive increases recorded in the overall CSI may indicate a return to the upward trend in crime observed before the start of the pandemic," Statistics Canada's reoprt stated on Thursday.

"The first year of the pandemic was marked by a decline in the overall volume and severity of police-reported crime, notably while lockdown restrictions were first implemented, driven by less non-violent crime. Before this drop, the CSI had been rising for five consecutive years beginning in 2015 (+19% over five years)."

The province with the highest rise in crime over the last year was Manitoba, which recorded a 14 per cent increase in the CSI. Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island joined Quebec in recording increases of about six per cent.

- With files from The Canadian Press