(Ottawa) Statistics Canada’s picture of the severity of crime suggests that serious crime reported to the police in 2021 was more numerous and that the reverse was true for less serious crime.
Posted at 9:40 a.m.
Indeed, the Violent Crime Severity Index (CSI) increased by 5% in 2021 and reached a higher level than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The increase in violent crime compared to 2020 is partly attributable to higher rates of certain sexual crimes, harassing and threatening behavior and homicide. In addition, police-reported hate crimes increased by 27%, primarily due to hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation, and race or ethnicity.
In contrast, Statistics Canada observed that the non-violent crime index decreased by 3% in 2021. This includes, for example, property offenses and drug offences.
Thus, for the first time since 2006, the year-over-year variation of the CSI with violence and the CSI without violence moved in opposite directions.
Quebec and Ontario recorded an increase in the Crime Severity Index in 2021, by 5% and 1% respectively, mainly due to the relatively large increases in sex crimes, fraud in Quebec and homicides in Ontario.
Overall, police reported 34,242 sexual assaults in Canada in 2021, which translates to a rate of 90 incidents per 100,000 population, the highest since 1996. Statistics Canada adds that the number of reported sexual assaults by police is likely a gross underestimate of the true extent of sexual assault in Canada, since these types of offenses often go unreported to the police.
On the other hand, the federal agency noted in 2021 significant increases in the number of cases of criminal harassment, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, indecent or harassing communications and threats. These crimes have been on an upward trend since around 2017, and have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic.