Canada. Serious Assaults on the Rise

Serious assaults, as well as assaults against peace officers, have increased by more than 20% during the past decade. They are among the few police-reported violent crimes on the rise in Canada.

In 2008, police reported about 3,500 aggravated assaults and 54,000 assaults with a weapon or assaults causing bodily harm.

In addition, police reported almost 10,000 assaults against peace officers in 2008. Almost 70% of these occurred in conjunction with at least one other offence, most commonly obstruction of a peace officer, level 1 assault and uttering threats. The large majority of these assaults were committed without a weapon.

Increase in assaults seen across the country

The increase in serious assaults over the past 10 years occurred in virtually every province and territory. Some of the largest increases were reported in Nova Scotia, although rates in the province for these offences are similar to the national average.

Ontario reported a much smaller increase than other provinces between 1998 and 2008. The rate for aggravated assaults was up 6%, while that for assaults with a weapon or assaults causing bodily harm rose 2%.

Among the provinces, the highest rates for serious assaults and assaults against peace officers occurred in Saskatchewan, while the lowest were in Prince Edward Island, similar to overall violent crime.

Spouses, acquaintances and strangers each account for about one-third of serious assaults

There are three primary situations in which serious assaults occur, each accounting for about one-third of all serious assaults: incidents of family violence, disputes between acquaintances and disputes between strangers.

Females were most often seriously assaulted by a family member, usually a spouse, whereas males were most often assaulted by an acquaintance or a stranger.

Increases in serious assaults greatest for youth

In 2008, youth aged 12 to 17 accounted for 20% of all persons accused of committing serious assaults, slightly lower than the proportion of youth for all violent crimes. However, the growth in the rate of youth committing serious assaults was much higher than that for adults.

The 28% increase in the rate of youth committing aggravated assaults or assaults with a weapon or assaults causing bodily harm was more than double the 12% growth for adults over the past 10 years.

With respect to assaults against peace officers, the difference was even greater. The increase among youth was 52%, compared with 7% for adults.

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