In November 2017, the Government of Canada announced it was investing $327.6 million over the next five years to reduce gun violence and gang activity in the country. Part of the initiative was to hold a national Summit on Criminal Guns and Gangs, which took place on Mar. 7, 2018, and was hosted by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
An analysis of homicide-related data from Statistics Canada confirms the federal government’s worry about rising gun and gang violence. Not only has the number of gang-related homicides been rising since 2014, but the rate at which incidents occur also rose by 45% in 2016. In addition, statistics confirm that shooting has been the most common method used to commit homicide in 2016.
Gang-related homicide victims compared to total victims of homicide (2012-2016)
Homicide in Canada: Gang-related homicide by province, 2016
The national Summit on Criminal Guns and Gangs, held on Mar. 7, 2018, prompts a deeper look into gang-related homicide across Canada. The governmental news release about tackling gun violence and gang activity, as well as Public Safety Canada’s Departmental Plan for 2017-18 both do not provide a detailed provincial breakdown of fatal incidents in relation to organized crime or gun violence.
However, an analysis of homicide-related data from Statistics Canada reveals that gang-related homicide largely takes place in Ontario. Specifically, 22.8% of all homicides in the province were gang-related in 2016, and mostly occurred in Toronto (33 out of the 45 incidents in Ontario). Canadian police organizations only began to collect data related to gang-activity in 2013, but studies show that most gang-related homicides involve firearms, male offenders and victims, and younger victims that are likely to be strangers to the offenders.