Crime rates and crime severity in Canada both fell in 2025

Statistics Canada says both the crime rate and the severity of crimes decreased in 2025.

The agency says Canada’s crime severity index dropped five per cent last year for the second annual decline in a row, after the index increased over the previous eight years.

The conventional crime rate, which tracks the volume of crimes regardless of their severity, also edged down two per cent in 2025.

StatCan says the reduction in the crime severity index was driven by the rate of break-and-enter cases falling for a third year in a row.

The index also reported reductions in the national rate of homicides, motor vehicle thefts and acts of extortion, while incidents of shoplifting increased.

StatCan says fraud was down in 2025, but the rate of fraud cases is still 61 per cent higher than in 2015, reflecting a surge in reported cases over the past decade.

The Canadian Press