The homicide rate in Saskatchewan for 2016 was the highest of all provinces and the highest it's been in almost 40 years, despite a small decline in the national homicide rate, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
The report, released Wednesday, says Saskatchewan saw a homicide rate of 4.69 per100,000people, compared to 3.89 in 2015.
Saskatchewan also had the highest number of reported homicides in 2016 since the homicide survey was created in 1961, according to StatsCan.
The report says Saskatchewan reported 54 homicides last year, compared to 44 in 2015.
According to StatsCan, the increase is partially because of increased gang-related homicides. There were 13 reported gang-related homicides in 2016, which was eight more than 2015.
The report also indicates more than half of gang-related homicides in the province were reported outside of the census metropolitan areas of Saskatoon and Regina.
StatsCan also included rates of Indigenous homicide victims across the country for 2016. In Saskatchewan, there were 36 reported homicides involving an Indigenous person, which was the highest in Canada.
Saskatchewan also saw the highest homicide rate involving an Indigenous person at 18.88 per 100,000 Indigenous people, which is a 17 per cent increase from 2015.
However, nationally, there was a 31 per cent decrease in homicide rates involving Indigenous women, according to the report.
