Daily BrewSaskatchewan still the most dangerous province: Stats Canada
Sure, crime may be on the decline across Canada. But things are always bad somewhere.
Take Saskatchewan. Despite posting a decrease to its crime rate, the province remained the most dangerous place in Canada.
Information recently released by Statistics Canada outlines a three-per-cent drop in police-reported crimes across the country. In fact, according to the report, the crime rate reached its lowest level in 40 years.
"The decline in the crime rate in 2012 was driven by decreases in some of the most common offences, including mischief, break and enter, disturbing the peace, motor vehicle theft and possession of stolen property," the report reads.
[ Related: Canada's police-reported crime rate falls again ]
Also worth celebrating is a three-per-cent decrease to the country's score on the Crime Severity Index, which StatsCan uses to measure the severity of crime.
Bully for us, Canada. We did it! We beat crime. Well, not quite. Reports of extortion were still on the rise, as were arson, unlawful firearm discharges and sexual violence against children.
And when it comes to breaking down where crime happens in Canada, there are some familiar hot zones.
Saskatchewan, which had the largest annual decrease in reported crime (at seven per cent), still has the highest crime rate in the country. The prairie province saw 11,513 crimes reported for every 100,000 residents.
Saskatchewan was followed by Manitoba (8,809), British Columbia (7.727) and Alberta (7.262) as being the most dangerous provinces, while Ontario (4,016) had the lowest score.
The territories were in another tier altogether, with the crime rates of Yukon (20,717), Nunavut (39,229) and Northwest Territories (48,052) posting as outliers.
When it came to specific cities, Western Canada was again found to be the most dangerous.
Saskatchewan's two major cities, Regina and Saskatoon, placed second and third on the list. They had crime rates of 8,755 and 8,512 respectively. Only Kelowna, B.C., with a crime rate of 8,875 per population of 100,000, fared worse.
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The police-reported crime statistics were not all doom and gloom, however. When it came to crime severity, the country saw a marked decrease.
The Crime Severity Index (CSI), which measures the severity of crimes (placing heavier weight on violent attacks than lesser offences) found that serious crimes decreased across the country. In fact, all but seven regions in Canada saw their CSI score decrease from the previous year.
The seven cities that saw an increase were:
Moncton, N.B., 15 per cent increase
Windsor, Ont., seven per cent increase
Kelowna, B.C., six per cent increase
Guelph, Ont.: six per cent increase
St. Catharines-Niagara: five per cent increase
Gatineau, Que.: two per cent increase
Brantford, Ont.: one per cent increase
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