Violent Crime Surges in Canada’s Major Cities: Report

Violent Crime Surges in Canada’s Major Cities: Report
OPP officers stand near the scene of a shooting where one Ontario Provincial Police officer was killed and two others were injured in the town of Bourget, Ont. on May 11, 2023. The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle
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Violent crime is surging in some of Canada’s major cities, with sexual assault rates showing the largest increase over the short and long term, according to a new report.

Sexual assault cases climbed in eight of nine major cities over the past seven years, with Ottawa being the exception to the trend, according to a study by the Macdonald Laurier Institute (MLI). The incidence of sexual assault has risen since 2016 in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Peel, Ont., and York, Ont., with the last nearly doubling from 2016 to 2023.