Homicide rates fell in Quebec in 2016, recording its lowest rate ever.
According to Statistics Canada, there were 67 homicides in the province last year, down from 79 in 2015 for a homicide rate of 0.80 per 100,000 population. Newfoundland and Labrador (1.32) and Nova Scotia (1.37) followed Quebec while Prince Edward Island reported no homicides in 2016.
Alberta saw the biggest drop in homicides (down 17 to 116 in 2016) while Ontario (+32) and Saskatchewan (+10) reported the largest increases for the year. Stats Canada noted in the cases of both Ontario and Saskatchewan the jump was partially due to more gang-related homicides.
Overall Canada had 611 homicide victims in 2016, up from 609 the year before. However due to population growth the homicide rate actually fell one per cent.
As for the census metropolitan areas, Thunder Bay, Ont. Edmonton, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan had the highest rates in the country while Kingston, Ont. Greater Sudbury, Ont. and Trois-Rivières, Que. reported no homicides.
Other notable stats from the recent Stats Can release: