New data from Statistics Canada shows homicide rates are falling across the country. Alberta recorded a modest decline in homicides with 115 reported in 2023, down from 119 in 2022.
There were 104 fewer homicides in Canada in 2023 compared to the previous year, bringing the national homicide rate down 14 per cent to 1.9 per 100,000 population. This is the first time the homicide rate has been below 2 per 100,000 population since 2019.
Though overall Alberta recorded fewer homicides in 2023, there was a stark difference between trends in the province’s two largest city. Calgary’s homicide rate fell by 22 per cent, while Edmonton, with 48 homicides reported, saw its rate climb by 28 per cent.
Edmonton and Calgary account for just under two-thirds of all homicides in the province.
“Gang-related homicides and intimate partner homicides all experienced declines, contributing to the overall reduction in the national homicide rate,” according to the StatsCan report. However, both remain major contributors to violent crime.
About one in four homicides were gang-related in 2023, 31 fewer than the previous year. The number of gang-related homicides committed by youth, however, rose 31 per cent.
Though there were 36 fewer victims of intimate partner homicides in 2023, 9 per cent of all homicides in Canada were committed by the victim’s intimate partner.
“As has historically been the case, women accounted for a disproportionate number of victims of intimate partner homicide in 2023. This includes homicides committed by a current or former legally married or common-law spouse, dating partner, or other intimate partner,” the StatsCan report says.
StatsCan also noted that Indigenous and racialized people were disproportionately the victims of homicide. Though Indigenous people make up only 5 per cent of the population, one-quarter of homicide victims are Indigenous, giving Indigenous peoples a homicide rate six times higher than non-Indigenous Canadians.
