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April 23, 2014FIREARMS AND VIOLENT CRIME IN CANADA, 2012 Both the number of victims and the rate of firearm-related violent crime in Canada fell by more than one-quarter between 2009 and 2012. Police services reported 5,600 victims of firearm-related violent crime in 2012, about 1,800 fewer victims of this type of crime than in 2009. This represented a rate of 21 victims per 100,000 population in 2012, down from 29 victims per 100,000 population in 2009.
About 2% of all violent crimes in 2012 were firearm-related, while 17% involved another type of weapon, such as a knife or blunt instrument.
In Nova Scotia, the total number of firearm related violent crimes was 268 or 2.4% of violent crime. The rate per 100,000 population was 28.2.
The highest rate of handgun-related violence among reporting provinces was in Nova Scotia (16 per 100,000 population), followed by British Columbia (15 per 100,000).
Halifax (41 per 100,000 population) had the highest rate of firearm-related violent crime among census metropolitan areas (CMAs).
Statistics Canada Cat. No. 85-002-X