Canada’s Cities and Smaller Urban Communities Seeing ‘Rising’ Violent Crime: New Study

A police cruiser drives through downtown Montreal after heavy snowfall on Nov. 11, 2025. The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov

Canada is experiencing a considerable surge in violent crime not only in larger cities but also smaller communities with formerly low violent crime rates, indicating a broader problem with public safety in the country, according to a new study.

An in-depth examination of 20 Canadian metropolitan areas reveals a nationwide decline in public safety and significant growth in violent crime, according to the Urban Violent Crime Report, Volume 2, study from the Macdonald–Laurier Institute released Nov. 12.

“Violent crime in Canada’s cities has not only risen – it has become a growing threat affecting urban communities across the country,” study authors Dave Snow and Richard Audas wrote in a summary of their findings, adding that violent crime has surged in the past decade including in smaller cities formerly considered safe.

The study considered violent crime across 20 Canadian cities, covering more than 65 percent of the country’s total population, and looked at the overall violent crime rate, the violent crime severity index, as well as incidences of homicide, sexual assault, assault, and theft. In addition, the study found that violent crime rose in all 20 cities that were examined and violent crime severity increased in 19 out of 20 of them.

Overall Rise, Especially in Sexual Assault

In particular, the study highlighted a rise in sexual assault rates, which increased in all 20 cities studied and have doubled in some cities, along with violent crime and violent crime severity indices climbing up to “twice as high as other large” cities in locations such as Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Edmonton. Further significant increases in violent crime were recorded in smaller cities such as Halifax, St. John’s, Kitchener, and Moncton, in some cases exceeding rates in larger metro centres.

Especially significant rises in sexual assault occurred in London, Ont., and Montreal, where rates have doubled in the past decade.

The study noted that even cities with generally lower crime rates such as Windsor, Quebec City, and Gatineau have had “substantial increases” in violent crime rates in the past decade, observing that “the trend has diffused beyond the traditional hotspots.”

Winnipeg was highlighted as the city with the highest homicide rate in the study at 5.34 homicides per 100,000 people, more than twice that of any of the other metro areas studied apart from Saskatoon and Regina. Winnipeg was also noted as having the highest robbery rate, coming in at twice that of the second-highest robbery rate, recorded in Saskatoon, and 18 times higher than in Quebec City.

The study observed the lowest violent crime severity rates in Ontario cities such as Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor, and St. Catherines, but despite their relatively low numbers these cities have experienced “a clear and sustained increase” over the past decade.

The study noted, for example, that Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo has seen a 75 percent increase in violent crime over the past 10 years, while Winnipeg has experienced a 50 percent rise, St. Catharines has had a 61 percent hike, and Quebec City has seen a 63 percent jump in the same time period.

Slightly better news occurs in terms of just the homicide rate, which the study found fell in 13 out of the 20 cities between 2023 and 2024. However, it noted that major increases have occurred, including a 108 percent jump in Ottawa over the past 10 years, as well as major rises in assault rates over the past decade in Saskatoon, up 51 percent, Quebec City, up 197 percent, Gatineau, up 191 percent, and Saint John’s up 95 percent.

Even a city such as Calgary with a mid-ranked violent crime rate of 1,054 per 100,000 and a relatively low sexual assault rate of 57 per 100,000 has seen a 40 percent rise in violent crime over the past decade.

Follow-Up to Last Year’s Report

The study is a follow-up and expansion to last year’s Urban Violent Crime Report, Volume 1, and looks at a broader swath of the Canadian population from nine provinces, identifying particularly high regional violent crime crises in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada and specific cities such as Winnipeg.

Winnipeg ranked highest in every category studied by Audas and Snow, including homicide, robbery, and sexual assault, topping the list of increasingly dangerous small and large cities across the nation and highlighting a problem that the study authors say must be addressed head-on.

“The message is stark: Canada’s decade-long rise in violent crime is broad-based, sustained, and no longer confined to its largest cities. Canadians’ growing concerns about public safety are justified,” Audas and Snow wrote. “Policymakers can no longer rely on temporary explanations or regional anomalies. The challenge now is to restore public confidence and measurable accountability in how we protect our cities.”

Canada Debates Crime

Canada’s violent crime gap with the United States has narrowed considerably in past years, with Statistics Canada noting that while Canada’s overall violent crime rate rose 13 percent between 1998 and 2008 and a further 9 percent between 2009–2023, the United States experienced a 37 percent drop in violent crime over the same time period.

In its response to Canada’s worsening violent crime and robbery numbers, the Carney government introduced the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, Bill C-14, on Oct. 23, which is currently in second reading at the House of Commons.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has said the bill will especially help in reducing auto robberies, home invasions, and organized crime by way of 80 amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada imposing stricter requirements for getting bail for car thieves, sexual assault convicts, and human smugglers. The bill also proposes longer sentences for violent and repeat offenders.

Conservatives have said the bill is insufficient, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Conservative MP Larry Brock, who also serves as justice critic, stating that the bill leaves in place a “principle of restraint” that they say lets repeat violent offenders out on bail. Instead, the Conservatives are seeking for the Liberals to adopt their tougher justice reform bill, the Jail Not Bail Act, which was introduced Sept. 22.