Crime rates in Canada’s rural areas have been consistency higher than the rates in most cities, according to a new Statistics Canada report.
In the analysis, StatCan used data from police-reported crime and the crime severity index (CSI) to measure the difference between rural and urban crime rates across the provinces. The findings were released April 29.
It found that in 2023, the crime rate in rural areas was 34 percent higher when compared to urban rates on a per-capita basis. Canadian CSI numbers were also 30 percent higher in rural areas for that year, StatCan said.
Similar to the overall crime rate, violent crime was consistently higher in rural areas, the report said.
In 2023, the police-reported violent crime rate was 1.7 times higher in rural areas (2,126 per 100,000 population) than in urban areas (1,274). More than a quarter (26 percent) of all crimes reported by rural police were violent, compared to 22 percent in urban areas.
StatCan said those accused of violent crimes in rural areas were typically between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. In urban areas, the largest number of individuals accused of violent crimes were between 12 and 17 years old.
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“Peak age was 27 years in rural areas, compared with 15 years in urban areas,” the report said.
When considering the relationship between victim and suspect, 13 percent of crimes were committed against strangers in rural areas, compared to 30 percent in urban areas, according to StatCan data.
Intimate partner violence in rural areas was almost double the rate of urban areas. There were about 571 victims per 100,000 population aged 12 and older in rural areas, compared to 309 per 100,000 in urban areas.
The largest gap in rural/urban crime rates was in Saskatchewan, were reported crimes were 68 percent higher in rural areas. This was followed by Manitoba, with 65 percent more crimes being reported in rural communities, and Alberta at 54 percent.
The lowest crime rate in Canada’s rural areas was found in Prince Edward Island, which had an 18 percent lower crime rate in rural areas compared to urban. Ontario had an 8 percent lower rate for rural communities, and Quebec saw a 4 percent lower crime rate in rural areas, the report said.
Northern regions of the provinces saw crime rates about three times higher than rural southern regions, according to StatCan. There were 17,546 crimes reported for every 100,000 people in northern rural regions. In southern rural areas, that number was 5,379 per 100,000 people.
“Most of the difference in police-reported crime between rural and urban areas is attributable to differences between the provincial north and provincial south,” the report’s authors wrote.
StatCan said that property crime was higher in rural areas, while vehicle crime and shoplifting were higher in urban areas. It said break-and-enters in rural areas were 32 percent higher, and drug crimes were also “substantially higher” in rural areas compared to urban.
In 2021, StatCan reported that police services for rural communities served only 15 percent of the population, but reported 24 percent of violent crimes, 18 percent of property crimes, 30 percent of Criminal Code traffic offences, and 23 percent of other Criminal Code violations.
