New data suggests that violent crime occurrences in Toronto were up 15 per cent in 2022, more than three times the rate of increase seen nationally.
Statistics Canada released both its overall crime severity index and its violent crime severity index for 2022 on Thursday.
The data shows that violent crime in Toronto, as measured by the index, was up 15 per cent year-over-year in 2022 compared to a Canada-wide increase of only four per cent.
It was among the highest jumps of any census metropolitan area, with only Winnipeg (20 per cent), Gatineau (20 per cent) and St. John’s (19 per cent) recording bigger increases.
Other Ontario regions like Windsor and London, meanwhile, saw decreases of nine and eight per cent, respectively.
The overall crime index for Toronto, which tracks non-violent offences as well, wasn’t much better either. It was up 14 per cent, compared to the four per cent jump nationally.
“These numbers are no surprise to myself or my members. I think the reality here is that everyone in the city feels like crime has gone up and now we see it in the numbers,” Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid told CP24 on Friday. “We have to make sure that the public doesn't hear about these issues and have it become numb to them.”
Toronto has seen a rash of brazen violent crime in recent months, including a daylight shooting in Leslieville three weeks ago that claimed the life of an innocent bystander.
While it should be noted that the city’s violent crime severity index does remain lower than it was in 2019, largely owing to a significant drop in crime that was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reid said that he is concerned about the trend and has asked Mayor Olivia Chow for a meeting.
“Just look at the incidents that occurred over the last few days. We had an officer in 14 Division seriously injured when she attempted to stop a stolen car and was almost crushed between two vehicles and we had two officers were involved with a gun down the other night in which one of our police dogs was killed. These are not normal instances and they cannot and should not ever be considered normal,” he said.
Statistics Canada says that the violent crime index is now at its highest point since 2007 nationally, though the overall crime index remains lower than it was pre-pandemic.
They say that the increase in violent crime was driven by a 15 per cent jump in robberies and an eight per cent rise in homicides.
The crime severity index takes into account both the volume and the severity of crime, according to Statistics Canada.
