Canada's national crime severity index falls for second consecutive year

Statistics Canada released the 2025 police‑reported crime statistics on July 22, showing the national Crime Severity Index (CSI) down 4.9 % – the second year of decline after a rise that began in 2015. The overall police‑reported crime rate fell 2.4 % and the violent‑crime component dropped 4.2 % while non‑violent crime was down 5.3 %. Breaking and entering, the most‑weight‑ed property offence, fell 11 % to 109,753 incidents, its rate now 41 % lower than in 2015 and 77 % lower than in 1998.

Most provinces and territories recorded decreases. Manitoba posted the biggest drop at 8.8 %, while New Brunswick and Nunavut were the only jurisdictions with rises of 5.6 % and 9.5 % respectively. In British Columbia the CSI fell nearly 12 % since 2023, attributed to reductions in extortion, shoplifting and child sexual‑abuse offences. The Northwest Territories saw an 8 % overall CSI decline, but its youth‑violent CSI rose 40.8 %.

Regional outliers were highlighted. Several northern Saskatchewan communities posted CSI scores far above the national average – La Ronge reached 708, Prince Albert 285 and Pelican Narrows recorded a violent CSI of 2,300. Saint John in New Brunswick experienced a 20 % jump in its CSI, driven by an increase in homicides, yet its index (70) remained below the Canadian average of 75. In the Okanagan, Penticton retained the highest local CSI (144.8) despite a double‑digit drop, while Kelowna and Vernon posted lower scores.

The data underscore a broad national downward trend in reported crime and severity, while also pointing to pockets of heightened risk that may guide provincial and local policy responses.