Saskatoon is the crime capital of Canada for the second straight year.
The city topped Statistics Canada’s 2015 crime numbers, released Wednesday, with the country’s highest crime rate and crime severity index.
The crime rate measures police-reported crime — excluding traffic offences — relative to population size. Saskatoon’s rate of 8,427 incidents per 100,000 people was above the counts in all other Canadian cities. Kelowna and Regina trailed closely behind, with rates both above the 8,000 mark, while Toronto recorded the lowest number at 2,892 incidents per 100,000 people.
Regina, which consistently held Canada’s highest crime severity index between 1998 and 2013, finished second in the category, behind Saskatoon, for the second straight year.
The index measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime. Saskatoon’s count of 112.5 and Regina’s 107.6 were well above Toronto’s 45.7 number — which was the lowest in the country.
Statistics Canada said in a media release both the crime severity index and crime rate increased across the country for the first time in 12 years.
Saskatoon’s crime rate and crime severity index each increased by two per cent over the 2014 numbers, while Regina’s increased by three per cent and five per cent, respectively.
The province, which has held the highest crime rate and crime severity index among all Canadian provinces for a number of years, again topped both lists with a crime rate of 11,178 incidents per 100,000 people and an index of 135.84.
High numbers of break and enters partly contributed to the high index numbers in Canada’s western provinces, while incidents of mischief contributed greatly to Saskatchewan and Manitoba’s numbers, according to Statistics Canada. Mischief accounted for 24 per cent and 23 per cent of police-reported crime in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, respectively.
