Crime rates in rural parts of Canada are much higher than in urban areas, according to a new report from Statistics Canada . The crimes committed in the countryside are also more severe overall.
So, while the majority of Criminal Code (excluding traffic) offences occurred in urban areas, says StatCan, the crime rate “in rural areas was 42 per cent higher than the rate in urban areas,” with 7,421 incidents per 100,000 population, compared with 5,235 incidents per 100,000 population in urban areas. Ten years earlier, in 2014, this gap was 29 per cent.
StatCan also uses what is known as the Crime Severity Index (CSI) to describe crime in Canada. CSI measures the volume and severity of crimes. (CSI weight is based on the incarceration rate and average length of the prison sentence handed down for violent offences.) In 2009, the first year with comparable data, the violent CSI was lower in rural areas (84.5) than in rural areas (95.3). The reverse was true 15 years later, says StatCan.
In 2024, the violent CSI was 46 per cent higher in rural areas (134.8) than in urban areas (92.5).
The agency’s latest comparative analysis of crime reported by police services, entitled, “Police-reported crime in rural and urban areas in the Canadian provinces, 2024,” was released Tuesday.
It should be noted that StatCan designated two types of “urban” areas. The first includes metropolitan communities with a total population of at least 100,000, having 50,000 or more living in the urban core. The other includes areas where there is a cluster of adjacent municipalities with a core of 10,000. Outside such areas are what StatCan deems to be “rural” Canada.
StatCan notes that when police-reported data was compared rural-to-urban for the first time in 2017, rural crime was primarily an issue in the Prairie provinces and somewhat less so in Newfoundland and Labrador. At that point, the crime rate in rural areas was roughly equal to or lower than that in urban areas. But the latest StatCan data paints a very different picture today.
“While rural areas in the Prairie provinces and Newfoundland and Labrador continue to show the largest gaps in crime rates compared with urban areas, crime is now higher in rural areas in nearly every province. In 2024, only rural Prince Edward Island and Ontario had crime rates lower than in urban areas. Violent crime rates also increased more in rural areas than in urban areas in most provinces between 2014 and 2024. Rural areas in New Brunswick (+92 per cent) Quebec (+90 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (+83 per cent) recorded a considerable increase in the violent crime rate,” the report says.
The homicide rate in rural areas has shown an upward trend in the latest crime data. It rose from 1.86 homicides per 100,000 population in 2014 to 2.92 homicides per 100,000 population, a jump of 57 per cent. Notably, the increase was more evident among women than men. From 2014 to 2024, the rate of homicides committed by women in rural areas increased 68 per cent (from 1.16 to 1.96 incidents per 100,000 women) compared with 50 per cent for men (from 2.55 to 3.83 incidents per 100,000 men).
When looking at women as victims, rather than perpetrators, women accounted for 57 of the 173 homicide victims in rural areas in 2024.
The rise in the homicide rate in rural areas is partly the result of the growing number of homicides attributable to organized crime or gangs, according to StatCan. In 2014, eight homicides (8.0 per cent of homicides) in rural areas were linked to organized crime or gangs. In 2024, this number rose to 23 (13.3 per cent). However, in 2024, this kind of homicide was still less likely in rural areas than urban areas, where 21 per cent of homicides were attributable to organized crime or gangs.
Assault is the most frequently reported violent crime by police in both rural and urban areas. Overall, police-reported rates of assault were higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Further, police-reported sexual assaults are trending upward. From 2014 to 2024, the rate of sexual assault increased by 56 per cent in rural areas (from 79 to 124 incidents per 100,000 population) and by 55 per cent in urban areas (from 53 to 82 incidents per 100,000 population).
Crimes in rural areas are more likely to have been committed by someone known to the victim, such as an intimate partner. In 2024, police services serving rural populations reported 573 incidents of intimate partner violence per 100,000 population. That was almost double the rate recorded in urban areas (310 incidents per 100,000 population). And, says StatCan, this gap is widening.
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