Crime Down in First Eight Months of Pandemic, but Mental Health Calls Rise: StatCan

People walk along a pedestrianized zone of Sainte-Catherine street in Montreal, on May 18, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. Newly released statistics point to a major drop in police-recorded crime during the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—Newly released figures point to a major drop in police-recorded crime during the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

Statistics Canada says police services across Canada reported that select criminal incidents fell by 18 percent between March and October 2020, compared with the same period a year earlier.