Homicide rate hits 44-year low

Highest rates

• For the second straight year, Thunder Bay recorded the highest homicide rate (4.2 per 100,000 population) followed by Saskatoon and Regina (3.7).
• Of the major cities, Winnipeg and Edmonton ranked the highest.
• The metropolitan Toronto area was well down the list with 90 homicides in 2010 for a homicide rate of 1.4.

The homicide rate in Canada has fallen to its lowest level in 44 years, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

Although the figures are for 2010, the downward trend is continuing in Toronto this year.

“It shows the world isn’t going to hell in a hand-basket,” said Ron Melchers, criminology professor at the University of Ottawa. “This really does confirm the trend we’ve seen in general crime stats.”

With 40 homicides reported as of Thursday, Toronto is on target to come in well below the 60 murders reported in 2010.

Since 1993, the lowest homicide total reported by Toronto police was the 47 murders that occurred in 1999.

However, Toronto police are not putting much stock in the latest statistics because crime rates can change quickly.

In the Statistics Canada report, the figures are for the metropolitan Toronto area and are not specific to the city proper.

The national agency noted a considerable shift to more homicides being committed by a common-law spouse than a legal spouse or dating partner.

In 2010, common-law spouses accounted for 45 per cent of homicides committed by an intimate partner followed by legal spouses and dating partners at 28 per cent.