Statistics Canada releases firearm-related violent crime stats for 2023

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Violent crimes involving firearms went up in urban areas and down in rural parts of northern B.C. in 2023, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The agency shared newly-released data from police departments all across the country on Tuesday, February 25th, showing firearm-related violent crime declined nationally slightly in 2023 after reaching a record high in the previous year.

“According to police data, there were 14,416 incidents of firearm-related violent crime in 2023,” the report reads. “This represented 37 incidents of firearm-related violent crime per 100,000 population, down 1.7 per cent from a year earlier.”

In rural northern B.C., according to the data, there were 61 violent crimes involving guns in 2023, down from 65 in 2022. 

This part of the province saw violent gun crimes at a rate of 57.5 incidents per 100,000 people, down 6.6 per cent compared to the previous year’s rate.

Urban northern B.C., however, wasn’t so lucky, with the number of incidents rising from 125 in 2022 to 199 in 2023. That’s equivalent to a rate of 83.6 incidents per 100,000 people.

The report defines “urban areas” as either census metropolitan areas (CMAs) or census agglomerations (CAs).

A CMA is one or more municipalities surrounding a major urban core. CMAs must have a population of at least 100,000, with at least 50,000 living in the urban core.

CAs, meanwhile, simply need to have a core population of at least 10,000.

All areas outside of those designations are considered rural areas.

British Columbia as a whole reportedly saw 1,459 violent crimes involving firearms in 2023, a decline from the 1,516 reported in 2022. 

Rates of firearm-related violent crimes were reportedly at their highest in the territories and the prairies, while the lowest rates were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in Quebec.

To view the full report, click here.

This comes after shootings in Dawson Creek which left one person dead and another injured on January 19th.