TORONTO - Canadian crime rates fell across nearly every category in 2025, offering some reassurance to Canadians worried about personal safety, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
StatsCan’s Crime Survey Index details that non-violent crime in Canada decreased by 5.3 per cent and violent crime dropped 4.9 per cent last year.
While multiple crime categories had been on the rise across Canada since roughly 2015, the new report shows that 2025 “is the second decrease in as many years, following several years of increases,” said Warren Silver, a Statistics Canada analyst.
By comparing the conventional crime rate to the crime severity index, StatCan says in a news release, the numbers suggest “the overall severity of crime declined more than the volume of crime, as there was a steeper percentage decline in the CSI (Crime Severity Index).”
However, a quick look online or on social media, shows hundreds of videos of violent crimes including assaults, home invasions and violent extortions.
“The numbers are what the numbers are, but I think it’s what people feel inside that gives them comfort or concern,” said Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto Police homicide detective.
Mendelson believes the proliferation of violent incidents shared on social media combined with algorithms pushing negative, violent content is in-part skewing public perception.
“Things like Instagram and Facebook, that’s where a troubling number of people go and get their information from, they view (violence) and they make their assessments based on what’s happening on social media,” Mendelson said.
The retired detective, added that national per-capita data shared by StatsCan, doesn’t always give a clear picture of what’s taking place in a specific city or community.
“We’ve seen the equal number of murders take place in Nunavut, that we’ve seen take place over the course of 36 hours in Toronto. So, it’s not exactly comparing apples to apples,” Mendelson said.
One crime that did increase in 2025, shoplifting at or under $5,000 spiked, 11 per cent according to StatsCan.
Crime analysts suggest that could stem from economic pressures, the cost of living, addiction, or simple crimes of opportunity with little fear of repercussions.
“We see people loading up hockey bags and liquor stores across Ontario and the country and going out the door,” Mendelson said.
Though in nearly every other category, crime has dropped, “almost every province and territory saw a decrease except for New Brunswick and Nunavut,” shares Silver, while reviewing the StatsCan data.
While crime is decreasing in most categories, Silver says a two-year dip in crime stats is too small a sample size for data experts to declare a long-term downward trend for the country.
Silver says StatsCan will need to see five consecutive years of declining crime stats to confidently state that Canada is trending in a sustained, safer direction.
“We don’t know if these two years are just a readjustment, even if we do see if crime stats will decrease to pre pandemic numbers before we can get a clearer picture,” Silver said.
With files from CTV News’ Senior Multi-platform writer Ted Ballantyne
