Brief: Data related to Bill C-21;

An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms) Submitted to the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs November, 2023 Submitted by: The Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics

Contents INTRODUCTION ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 2 FINDINGS ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 2 Trends in firearm-related violent crime in Canada, 2009 to 2022 ................................ ........................ 2 Increase in firearm-related violent crime since 2013, with large increase in 2015 ........................... 2 Largest increase noted for firearm-specific violent offences ................................ ............................ 3 Firearm-related violent crime highest in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Territories ................... 4 Firearm-related violent crimes in urban areas most often involve handguns, while rifles or shotguns are more often used in rural areas ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 6 Firearm-related violent crimes involving organized crime or street gangs ................................ ....... 8 Intimate partner violence and firearms ................................ ................................ ............................ 9 Information on Licensed Firearms used in Homicides ................................ ................................ ...... 10 Court Outcomes for Selected Firearm Crimes ................................ ................................ .................. 10 Family cases involving a civil protection application ................................ ................................ ...... 10 Annex ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 11

Page | 2 INTRODUCTION The Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS), a division of Statistics Canada, is responsible for providing information to the justice community and the public on the nature and extent of crime and victimization and the administration of criminal and civil justice in Canada. Governance for the production of this information, through national data collection and reporting, is provided through the National Justice Statistics Initiative (NJSI).

The NJSI is a collaboration between Federal, Provincial and Territorial Deputy Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety in Canada and the Chief Statistician of Canada. As the operational arm of the NJSI, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) is responsible for the development, collection, integration and analysis of data that reflect trends in Canada and on the development of national-and jurisdictional-level indicators.

The present brief is submitted to the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs to support their examination of Bill C-21;

An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms). Statistics Canada is herein providing currently available data on trends in firearm-related crime in Canada with specific focus on the use of firearms in intimate partner violence where possible, court outcomes for select firearm crimes, and information related to the prevalence of protection orders in family court cases.

The information presented in this brief relies on data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR), the Homicide Survey, the Civil Court Survey (CCS), and the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) to examine offences targeted by Bill C-21. FINDINGS Trends in firearm-related violent crime in Canada, 2009 to 2022 As has been found historically, violent Criminal Code offences in 2022 accounted for about one in five crimes that came to the attention of police.

Firearm-related violent crime typically represents less than 3% of police-reported violent crime in Canada; nevertheless, it has a significant emotional and physical impact on victims, families and communities. Additionally, the rate of firearm-related violence has generally increased over the past several years.

For the majority of the analysis that follows, firearm-related violent crime refers to firearm-specific violent crimes offences (discharging a firearm with intent, pointing a firearm, use of a firearm in an indictable offence) and violent crimes where the most serious weapon present in the incident was a firearm and where police deemed the presence of the firearm relevant to the incident. Of note, for an incident to be considered firearm-related, a firearm need only be present during the commission of the offence, not necessarily used.

Increase in firearm-related violent crime since 2013, with large increase in 2015 Between 2009 and 2013, the rate of firearm-related violent crime in Canada decreased, following a similar trend in overall violent crime. However, firearm-related violent crime started an upward climb in 2014, with the largest increase documented between 2014 and 2015. The 2021 to 2022 increase was the second largest yearly increase since 2013. Since 2013, firearm-related violent crime (+55 %) saw a larger increase than overall violent crime (+24 %).

Page | 3 Chart 1 Police-reported incidents and victims of violent gun crime, Canada, 2009 to 2022 Note: Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence was a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm. The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim. Rates are calculated per 100,000 people.

Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Trend Database. Largest increase noted for firearm-specific violent offences Since 2013, increases in firearm-related violent crime were recorded for virtually all offences. The largest increase was noted for firearm-specific offences (+120 %), an increase largely attributable to a sharp increase of discharging with intent incidents and, to a lesser extent, pointing a firearm incidents.

Following these, large increases were also noted with threats and extortion (+93 %), homicide and attempted murder (+64 %), sexual assault (64%), and major assault (60%). Despite a sharp decline from 2017 to 2021, the rate of robbery was 5 % higher than in 2013. 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Incidents Victims Total violent crimes rate per 100,000 people - all violent crimes rate per 100,000 people - incidents and victims of violent gun crime

Page | 4 Chart 2 Violent gun crime cases, by most serious offence, Canada, 2009 to 2022 Note: Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence was a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm. The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim. Rates are calculated per 100,000 people.

Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Trend Database. Firearm-related violent crime highest in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Territories As with violent crime generally, rates of firearm-related violent crime in 2022 were highest in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Territories.

High rates of firearm-related violent crime in the Territories and, to a lesser extent in Manitoba, may be a reflection of the overall high rates of violence within these regions. Specifically, the proportion of violent crime involving a firearm was actually similar or lower than the national average in these areas. This was however not the case in Saskatchewan, where high rates of firearm-related violent crime was attributable to high crime rates in general, but also to the proportion of violent crime that was firearm- related (4.4%), which was highest among all provinces and territories.

Alberta (3.6%) and Ontario (3.3%) also recorded relatively high proportion of violent crimes that were firearm-related. The census metropolitan areas (CMAs) with the highest rates of firearm-related violent crime in 2022 were Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Moncton, and Toronto. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Homicide, offences causing death, attempted murder Robbery Sexual assault Assault Firearms offences (pointing, discharging, use) Threats, extortion and intimidation Other violent crimes rate per 100,000 people

Page | 5 Chart 3 Violent gun crime cases, by census metropolitan area, 2022 1. In Quebec, the information management system used by the majority of police services results in a relatively high proportion of unknown values for the variable "most dangerous weapon present". Although firearm crimes are likely correctly recorded in the vast majority of cases, undercounting remains a possibility. Caution should therefore be exercised when comparing Quebec data with those from other provinces or territories. Note: The data in this chart is drawn from the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey.

They may therefore differ slightly from data presented in other graphs or tables, which are based on the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Trend Database, which includes only police services that have consistently participated in the UCR2 Survey since 2009. Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence is a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, using a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm.

The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim. A census metropolitan area (CMA) is made up of one or more adjacent municipalities located around a population center (also called a "core"). A CMA must have a population of at least 100,000, with at least 50,000 living in the core. To be part of a CMA, adjacent municipalities must be highly integrated into the core, i.e., at least 50% of their population must pass through the core, with commuting flow calculated from previous census place-of-work data.

Excludes the Quebec City CMA due to the exclusion of data from the Quebec City Police Department (see "Data source" section). Rates are calculated per 100,000 people. Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. Overall, firearm-related violent crime was relatively high in Canadian northern regions specifically the Territories and the Provincial North (See Annex, Table 1).

These areas also recorded some of the largest increases in firearm-related violent crime in recent years. Although, compared to 2013, firearm- related violent crime increased in all regions, the increase was about 3 times as pronounced in the provinces northern rural areas and in the territories as in the urban areas in the South. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Rate of violent gun crime percentage of violent crimesrate per 100,000 people Census metropolitan area

Page | 6 Chart 4 Violent gun crime incidents, by urban and rural areas in southern and northern provinces, and territories, 2009 to 2022 Note: Rural police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives outside a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration (CA). Urban police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives in a CMA or CA (see "Data sources" section).

The northern regions of the provinces include the northern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia (North and South - Standard Geographical Classification Variant 2021). Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence is a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm.

The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim. Rates are calculated per 100,000 people. Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Firearm-related violent crimes in urban areas most often involve handguns, while rifles or shotguns are more often used in rural areas In 2022, most incidents of firearm-related violent crime in urban areas (62%) involved handguns. Among the largest CMAs, handguns were the most common firearm present in Toronto (83% of firearm-related violent crime), Ottawa (70%), Vancouver (66%), London (66%) and Montreal (64%).

In contrast, handguns were less frequently used in the commission of a firearm-related violent crime in rural areas (25% in the rural South, 16% in the rural North and 32% in the territories), where rifles and shotguns were more commonly used.

Although, handguns were not as common in violent crimes in rural areas compared to urban areas, the proportion of firearm-related violent crime involving a handgun has increased in those areas over the past decade, especially in the North, while it remained relatively stable in urban areas. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Southern urban areas Northern urban areas Southern rural areas Northern rural areas Territories rate per 100,000 people

Page | 7 Chart 5 Proportion of violent gun crimes involving handguns, by urban and rural areas in southern and northern provinces, and territories, 2009 to 2022 Note: Rural police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives outside a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration (CA). Urban police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives in a CMA or CA (see "Data sources" section).

The northern regions of the provinces include the northern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia (North and South - Standard Geographical Classification Variant 2021). Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence is a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm.

The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Trend Database. Since 2013, when the rate of firearm-related violent crime reached its lowest point since comparable data became available in 2009, the rate has increased for all types of firearms (as measured by the UCR). The largest increase was recorded in violent crimes involving a “firearm-like weapon or unknown type of firearm” (+76 % since 2013).

This could partially be a result of the increase in incidents of firearm-specific offences (discharging, pointing, using), which involve a relatively large proportion of “firearm-like weapon or unknown type of firearm”. It could also be the result of the increase in the rate of youth accused of firearm-related violent crime, as “firearm-like weapon or unknown type of firearm” also account for a relatively large proportion of these crimes. The UCR does not allow for a distinction between unknown type and firearm-like weapons (e.g. pellet, ghost guns, 3D gun).

However, given the large increase in this category, it is likely that both unknown types and firearm-like weapons are contributing to this increase. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Southern urban areas Southern rural areas Northern urban areas Rural northern regions Territories percent

Page | 8 Chart 6 Police-reported violent gun crime incidents, by type of firearm present, Canada, 2009 to 2022 Note: Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence was a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm. The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim.

Offences specifically involving firearms in which the police indicated another type of weapon or an unknown weapon are classified in the "unknown type of firearm" category. Rates are calculated per 100,000 people. Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Trend Database.

The type of firearm that saw the second largest increase since 2013 are handguns, for which the incident rate increased by 50%, followed by rifles and shotguns (+45%). The rate of violent crimes involving fully automatic or sawed-off shotguns, which are prohibited guns, increased by 35% during the same time period.

Firearm-related violent crimes involving organized crime or street gangs Recognizing the need for organized crime data, in 2005, the CCJCSS, in partnership with the Police Information and Statistics (POLIS) Committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), developed a means of tracking organized crime involvement for all police-reported crimes collected through the UCR survey. An organized crime flag was created so that police services could indicate, for any UCR record, whether a specific incident was or suspected to have been committed for the benefit of organized crime or street gangs.

However, due to low reporting of organized crime to the UCR survey by police, the publication of organized crime data was suspended in 2009. Since then, a substantial amount of work by Statistics Canada and POLIS has been done with the goal of improving the quality of these data. The most recent efforts to address data quality issues involved a pilot project with several police services who 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Handgun Automatic or sawed-off firearm Rifle or shotgun Firearm-like weapon or unknown type of firearm rate per 100,000 people

Page | 9 collected data from 2014 to 2016. The pilot project resulted in a number of recommendations to significantly improve data quality and reporting. Although the UCR Survey has been structured to collect data from police on whether the incident was linked to organized crime or street gang activity, there are organizational challenges from police services in reporting this information in an accurate manner. In 2017, Statistics Canada and the CACP released seven recommendations to improve reporting.

These included, for example, support by the Police Service Executive to raise the priority of collecting organized crime data and amending internal police services policies should the information on organized-crime involvement reside somewhere other than the system used for reporting to the UCR Survey. After a concerted effort to provide police with best practices and support in reporting, Statistics Canada began publishing in 2018 information from police on organized crime and street gang activity, with data from 2016 onward.

Police services representing 93% of the Canadian population reported this information specific to organized crime in 2022. In 2022, among the police services who reported organized crime data, 4% of firearm-related violent crime was identified by police as confirmed or suspected to be committed by, and for the benefit of, a criminal organization or street gang. Although police report and sign off on these data, there are likely still challenges in accurately reporting whether an incident was committed by or for the benefit of organized crime, therefore this is likely an undercount.

For example, many investigations into organized crime involve specialized policing units, which may not be available in all jurisdictions. Additionally, due to the complexity of these incidents, police-reported data likely reflect the number of active or closed investigations for a given year, rather than the total number of incidents reported to police. Organized crime or gang activity was most likely to be involved in more serious incidents. For example, among firearm-related violent crimes in which the victim sustained minor injuries, 3% were identified as being linked to organized crime or street gangs.

This proportion increased to 9 % in incidents in which the victim sustained major injuries and almost half of incidents in which the victim died. Intimate partner violence and firearms In 2022, the proportion of intimate partner victims involved in police-reported violent crimes where a firearm was present was 1.2%. When considering intimate partner violence incidents involving female victims, the proportion of firearm-related violence was higher (1.3%) relative to male victims (0.6%). Of note, the overall proportion of victims of violent crime involving a firearm was 3%.

It is also important to note that the rate of intimate partner victims who were involved in incidents where a firearm was present increased every year from 2014 (1.9 per 100,000 population, or 584 victims) through to 2021 (3.2, or 1,037 victims), but declined in 2022 (3.0, or 990 victims). For female victims, the rate of firearm-related intimate partner violence was 3.0 per 100,000 population in 2013 and 5.2 in 2022. When considering injuries, 0.2% of victims of police-reported intimate partner violence suffered an injury due to a firearm.

This proportion was similar for both male and female victims of intimate partner violence. In general, over the past 10 years the use of firearms in homicides committed by an intimate partner or spouse has remained relatively stable. In 2022, there were 101 homicides committed by an intimate partner or spouse representing 18% of all homicides. Of these intimate partner or spousal homicides, 20% involved the use of a firearm. Most commonly, the firearm used in these homicides were handguns (55%), followed by a rifle or shotgun (30%)

Page | 10 Information on Licensed Firearms used in Homicides In the Homicide Survey, a homicide is considered firearm-related when the primary weapon used to cause death is a rifle or shotgun, handgun, other firearm-like weapon (e.g., nail gun or pellet gun), or another firearm where the type of firearm is unknown. Detailed firearm-related data on firearm ownership, legality, and licensing should be interpreted with caution. These data are calculated for homicides where the information is known and therefore cannot be interpreted to represent all firearm- related homicides.

In 2022, in 88% of firearm-related homicides for which the information was available, the accused person did not possess a valid firearm licence for the classification of firearms used in the incident (167 homicides). This information was missing for 44% of firearm-related homicides. Court Outcomes for Selected Firearm Crimes Bill C-21 includes provisions to increase the maximum penalty for Criminal Code Sections 95, 96, 99, 100 and 103. Data tables on court outcomes for those offences from the adult component of the ICCS are provided in the Annex for context.

Family cases involving a civil protection application Bill C-21 also seeks to prevent individuals who are subject to a protection order from being eligible to hold a firearms licence. Data from the CCS on applications for protection orders through family courts are being provided here for context. The CCS excludes data from Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Manitoba, jurisdictions which are not yet reporting information to the survey. The information provided here also excludes data from Saskatchewan due to data availability.

There were 8,508 new family court cases involving an application for a civil protection order in 2021/2022. Family cases involving a civil protection application are distinctly different from child protection applications, which involve the government applying to the court to protect a child. In a family civil protection application, a family member who experiences or is at risk of experiencing family violence applies for the protection order from the court. In 2% of the active family cases involving a civil protection application examined here, issues relating to child safety were also present.

According to police-reported family violence statistics, 114,132 people experienced intimate partner violence in 2021, 79% of whom were women (Conroy 2022). Criminal offences are out of the scope of the CCS. Yet, it is important to note that there may be family violence situations involving criminal and civil court cases. In 2021/2022, there were 19,151 family cases active in the civil courts which reported at least one application for a family civil protection order over the lifetime of the case. Just over one-quarter (26%) of the active cases reported the sex of the applicant.

Of those, 73% were female and 27% were male. However, the data excludes Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Yukon due to limitations in reporting the sex of the applicant and therefore should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of cases for which this information is available. Most active family cases involving a civil protection application proceeded uncontested (72%), while 28% reported respondent activity at least once during the case. Due to the safety concerns raised in an application for protection, obtaining a protection order from the court is expedited.

In 2021/2022, over three-quarters (81%) of family cases involving a civil protection application reached a first disposition within the first three months, the median number of days being four days.

Page | 11 Annex Table 1 Police-reported violent gun crime incidents, provinces and territories, urban and rural areas, southern and northern regions, 2012 to 2022 Provinces and territories, urban and rural areas in the South and North 2022 2021 2012 number percent rate1 % change 2022 to 2021 % change 2022 to 2012 number percent rate1 number percent rate1 Canada 13,937 2.8 36.7 8.9 35.0 12,566 2.6 33.7 9,203 2.3 27.2 Southern urban areas 10,283 2.9 33.5 13.4 28.5 8,893 2.6 29.5 6,989 2.6 26.0 Northern urban areas 511 1.8 41.1 -0.4 61.7 510 1.9 41.3 306 1.4 25.4 Rural South 1,671 2.4 33.5 -6.8 32.0 1,768 2.5 35.9 1,219 2.0 25.4 Rural North 1,260 3.3 148.9 6.5 120.2 1,173 3.1 139.8 571 1.8 67.6 Territories 212 1.6 163.0 -5.7 58.2 222 1.8 172.8 118 1.4 103.0 Newfoundland and Labrador 120 1.3 22.8 -8.7 4.4 130 1.4 25.0 115 1.5 21.8 Southern urban areas 88 1.8 29.4 18.8 67.5 73 1.5 24.8 39 1.1 17.6 Rural South 25 0.9 12.6 -36.2 -31.9 39 1.4 19.7 51 1.7 18.4 Rural North 7 0.4 25.1 -61.3 -72.2 18 1.0 64.8 25 1.9 90.1 Prince Edward Island 17 0.7 10.0 9.4 -24.2 15 0.7 9.1 19 1.1 13.1 Southern Urban 8 0.5 7.2 28.5 -53.2 6 0.5 5.6 14 1.2 15.4 Rural South 9 1.2 15.1 -3.2 61.9 9 1.2 15.6 5 1.0 9.3 Nova Scotia 291 1.8 28.7 -3.1 -14.6 292 2.0 29.6 315 2.5 33.5 Southern Urban 201 2.0 29.7 -7.1 -24.3 209 2.4 32.0 237 3.2 39.2 Rural South 90 1.5 26.6 6.7 14.2 83 1.4 24.9 78 1.5 23.3 New Brunswick 300 2.3 40.6 23.7 47.9 236 1.9 32.8 189 2.0 27.5 Southern Urban 163 2.2 35.8 32.7 63.0 119 1.7 27.0 91 1.7 22.0 Rural South 137 2.5 48.2 14.8 35.2 117 2.0 42.0 98 2.4 35.7 Quebec2 1,994 2.1 24.8 -1.3 -11.5 1,999 2.2 25.1 2,086 2.8 28.0 Southern Urban 1,620 2.2 25.8 1.2 -12.5 1,586 2.3 25.5 1,687 3.0 29.5 Northern urban areas 52 1.1 16.6 -26.2 12.5 70 1.6 22.5 46 1.2 14.7 Rural South 291 1.9 21.2 -9.1 -14.0 315 2.1 23.3 328 2.4 24.6 Rural North3 31 1.9 43.4 10.4 29.7 28 1.6 39.3 25 1.8 33.5 See notes at the end of the table.

Page | 12 Table 1 Police-reported violent gun crime incidents, provinces and territories, urban and rural areas, southern and northern regions, 2012 to 2022 Provinces and territories, urban and rural areas in the South and North 2022 2021 2012 number percent rate1 % change 2022 to 2021 % change 2022 to 2012 number percent rate1 number percent rate1 Ontario 4,791 3.3 32.1 24.4 52.9 3,775 2.8 25.8 2,780 2.4 21.0 Urban South 4,342 3.6 33.3 27.6 50.9 3,332 3.0 26.1 2,521 2.6 22.1 Urban North 205 2.0 39.0 1.1 286.7 201 2.0 38.6 52 0.8 10.1 Rural South 156 1.8 13.9 -2.9 3.3 158 1.8 14.3 143 1.7 13.5 Rural North 88 1.6 34.8 3.3 36.7 84 1.6 33.7 64 1.1 25.5 Manitoba 961 2.9 70.5 0.1 84.6 948 3.2 70.4 464 1.9 38.2 Southern Urban Areas 506 3.2 52.9 -10.3 63.9 556 4.0 58.9 284 2.4 32.3 Northern urban areas 27 1.4 197.0 297.0 88.2 7 0.4 49.6 14 1.6 104.7 Rural South 156 3.2 50.9 -12.0 78.3 175 3.5 57.8 69 1.6 28.6 Rural North 272 2.8 318.5 29.0 160.3 210 2.3 246.9 97 1.4 122.4 Saskatchewan 1,282 4.4 109.6 -7.0 138.2 1,363 4.8 117.9 487 2.1 46.0 Urban South 634 4.8 83.0 -6.7 118.7 670 5.3 89.0 251 2.3 38.0 Rural South 339 3.7 92.6 -17.9 100.5 410 4.5 112.8 166 2.3 46.2 Rural North 309 4.4 766.3 8.1 319.4 283 4.2 708.9 70 1.4 182.7 Alberta 2,481 3.6 54.5 5.9 64.0 2,292 3.5 51.5 1,290 2.4 33.2 Urban South 1,546 3.4 42.4 8.5 63.8 1,388 3.1 39.1 777 2.4 25.9 Urban North 105 2.3 65.8 2.7 3.5 102 2.4 64.1 95 2.4 63.6 Rural South 341 3.7 69.1 1.7 63.7 333 3.7 67.9 199 2.3 42.2 Rural North 489 5.5 194.4 3.4 129.4 469 5.2 188.0 219 2.6 84.7 British Columbia 1,488 1.8 28.0 12.5 -4.7 1,294 1.6 24.9 1,340 2.1 29.3 Urban South 1,175 1.9 26.0 20.2 -8.4 954 1.5 21.6 1,088 2.3 28.3 Urban North 122 1.8 53.0 -6.5 14.1 130 2.0 56.6 99 1.6 46.4 Rural South 127 1.8 28.5 -2.8 38.0 129 1.7 29.3 82 1.4 20.7 Rural North 64 1.7 54.9 -21.3 -11.3 81 2.0 69.8 71 1.9 61.9 See notes at the end of the table.

Page | 13 Table 1 Police-reported violent gun crime incidents, provinces and territories, urban and rural areas, southern and northern regions, 2012 to 2022 Provinces and territories, urban and rural areas in the South and North 2022 2021 2012 number percent rate1 % change 2022 to 2021 % change 2022 to 2012 number percent rate1 number percent rate1 Yukon 33 1.5 75.1 4.6 94.3 31 1.4 71.8 14 1.0 38.6 Northwest Territories 105 1.9 230.2 8.2 195.6 97 1.8 212.7 34 1.0 77.9 Nunavut 74 1.5 182.6 -22.9 -9.6 94 2.0 236.7 70 2.1 201.9 1. Rates are calculated per 100,000 people.

Population figures are based on July 1 estimates provided by Statistics Canada's Demography Centre. 2. In Quebec, the information management system used by the majority of police services results in a relatively high proportion of unknown values for the "most dangerous weapon present" variable. Although firearm crimes are likely correctly recorded in the vast majority of cases, caution should be exercised when comparing Quebec data with that from other provinces. Excludes Quebec City Police Service data due to the high proportion of cases in which the most dangerous weapon present was reported as unknown. 3.

Excludes Nunavut due to data unavailability. Note: Firearm crimes include incidents where the most serious offence is a violent offence specifically involving firearms (pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, use of a firearm in the commission of a criminal act) and other violent crimes where the most dangerous weapon present in the incident was a firearm. The number of incidents corresponds to the number of victims, plus crimes for which the police did not provide a record of the victim.

Rural police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives outside a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration (CA). Urban police services are those serving an area where the majority of the population lives in a CMA or CA (see "Data sources" section). Northern regions of provinces include the northern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia (North and South - Standard Geographical Classification 2021 variant).

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Community Safety and Justice Statistics and Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Trend File.

Page | 14 Table 2 Number of selected firearms cases by type of decision, Canada, adult criminal courts, 2012/2013 to 2021/2022 Criminal Code

Section Decision group Guilty Acquitted Stay Withdrawn/ Dismissed/ Discharged Other number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent s.95(2)(a) 309 75 47 11 14 3 36 9 5 1 s.96(2)(a) 26 39 19 29 6 9 15 23 0 0 s.99 248 47 4 1 54 10 213 40 10 2 s.100 72 30 6 3 41 17 115 48 4 2 s.103 28 44 1 2 8 13 27 42 0 0 1. This product is based on data from the adult component of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS).

The ICCS is administered by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (Statistics Canada) in collaboration with provincial and territorial government departments responsible for criminal courts in Canada. The survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences. Data contained in this table represent the adult criminal court portion of the survey, namely individuals who were 18 years of age or older at the time of the offence. Data are based on a fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). 2.

As of 2005/2006, all provincial and territorial courts in 10 provinces and 3 territories report to the survey. Information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec are not available for extraction from their electronic reporting systems and are therefore not reported to the survey. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was also unavailable until 2018/2019.

The absence of data from superior courts in these jurisdictions may result in a slight underestimation of the severity of sentences since some of the most serious cases, which are likely to result in the most severe sanctions, are processed in superior courts. There may also be a slight underestimation of case elapsed times as more serious cases generally require more court appearances and take more time to complete. 3.

A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company, which were processed by the courts at the same time (date of offence, date of initiation, date of first appearance, or date of decision), and received a final decision. The definition attempts to reflect court processing. All data have been processed using this case definition. The case definition changed for the 2006/2007 release of data. The former definition (used in releases prior to October 2007) combined all charges against the same person disposed of in court on the same day into a case.

Consequently, comparisons should not be made with data tables and reports released before that time. 4. Cases are counted in the fiscal year in which they are completed. Every year, the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) database is considered final at the end of March for the production of court statistics for the previous fiscal year. These counts do not include cases pending an outcome at the end of the reference period. If an outcome is reached in the next fiscal year, these cases are included in the completed case counts for that fiscal year.

However, cases that are inactive for one year are deemed complete and the originally published counts for the previous fiscal year are updated and reported in the next fiscal year's data release. 5. A case that has more than one charge is represented by the charge with the "most serious offence" (MSO). The most serious offence is selected using the following rules. First, court decisions are considered and the charge with the "most serious decision" (MSD) is selected.

Court decisions for each charge in a case are ranked from most to least serious as follows: (1) guilty, (2) guilty of a lesser offence, (3) acquitted, (4) stay of proceeding, (5) withdrawn, dismissed or discharged, (6) not criminally responsible, (7) other, and (8) transfer of court

Page | 15 jurisdiction. Second, in cases where two or more charges result in the same MSD (for example, guilty), Criminal Code sanctions are considered. The charge with the most serious offence type is selected according to an offence seriousness scale, based on actual sentences handed down by courts in Canada (The offence seriousness scale is calculated using data from both the adult and youth components of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey).

Each offence type is ranked by looking at (1) the proportion of guilty charges where custody was imposed and (2) the average (mean) length of custody for the specific type of offence. These values are multiplied together to arrive at the final seriousness ranking for each type of offence. If, after looking at the offence seriousness scale, two or more charges remain tied then information about the sentence type and duration of the sentence are considered (for example, custody and length of custody, then probation and length of probation, etcetera). 6. A decision is a judgment made by the court.

The decision categories are as follows: Guilty; Acquittal; Stay, Withdrawn, Dismissed; and Other decisions. 7. Guilty findings include guilty of the charged offence, of an included offence, of an attempt of the charged offence, or of an attempt of an included offence. This category also includes guilty pleas, and cases where an absolute or conditional discharge has been imposed. 8. Acquittal means that the accused has been found not guilty of the charges presented before the court. 9.

The "stay/withdrawn" category includes stays, withdrawals, dismissals and discharges at preliminary inquiry as well as court referrals to alternative or extrajudicial measures and restorative justice programs. These decisions all refer to the court stopping criminal proceedings against the accused. 10. Other decisions include final decisions of found not criminally responsible and waived out of province or territory.

This category also includes any order where a guilty decision was not recorded, the court's acceptance of a special plea, cases which raise Charter arguments and cases where the accused was found unfit to stand trial. 11. Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) data for Quebec were not available for 2021/2022. 12. The firearms offences included in this tables are defined as Criminal Code sections 95(2)(a), 96(2)(a), 99, 100, 103, RSC 1985. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.

Page | 16 Table 3 Number of selected guilty firearms cases by most serious sentence, Canada, adult criminal courts, 2012/2013 to 2021/2022 Criminal Code

Section Total guilty Most serious sentence Not available Custody Conditional sentence Probation Fine Other number number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent s.95(2)(a) 309 2 1 287 93 2 1 10 3 3 1 5 2 s.96(2)(a) 26 0 0 24 92 0 0 2 8 0 0 0 0 s.99 248 12 5 215 87 7 3 5 2 5 2 4 2 s.100 72 7 10 59 82 2 3 1 1 0 0 3 4 s.103 28 2 7 19 68 2 7 2 7 3 11 0 0 1. This product is based on data from the adult component of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS).

The ICCS is administered by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (Statistics Canada) in collaboration with provincial and territorial government departments responsible for criminal courts in Canada. The survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences. Data contained in this table represent the adult criminal court portion of the survey, namely individuals who were 18 years of age or older at the time of the offence. Data are based on a fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). 2.

As of 2005/2006, all provincial and territorial courts in 10 provinces and 3 territories report to the survey. Information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec are not available for extraction from their electronic reporting systems and are therefore not reported to the survey. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was also unavailable until 2018/2019.

The absence of data from superior courts in these jurisdictions may result in a slight underestimation of the severity of sentences since some of the most serious cases, which are likely to result in the most severe sanctions, are processed in superior courts. There may also be a slight underestimation of case elapsed times as more serious cases generally require more court appearances and take more time to complete. 3.

A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company, which were processed by the courts at the same time (date of offence, date of initiation, date of first appearance, or date of decision), and received a final decision. The definition attempts to reflect court processing. All data have been processed using this case definition. The case definition changed for the 2006/2007 release of data. The former definition (used in releases prior to October 2007) combined all charges against the same person disposed of in court on the same day into a case.

Consequently, comparisons should not be made with data tables and reports released before that time. 4. Cases are counted in the fiscal year in which they are completed. Every year, the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) database is considered final at the end of March for the production of court statistics for the previous fiscal year. These counts do not include cases pending an outcome at the end of the reference period. If an outcome is reached in the next fiscal year, these cases are included in the completed case counts for that fiscal year.

However, cases that are inactive for one year are deemed complete and the originally published counts for the previous fiscal year are updated and reported in the next fiscal year's data release. 5. A case that has more than one charge is represented by the charge with the "most serious offence" (MSO). The most serious offence is selected using the following rules. First, court decisions are considered and the charge with the "most serious decision" (MSD) is selected.

Court decisions for each charge in a case are ranked from most to least serious as follows: (1) guilty, (2) guilty of a lesser offence, (3) acquitted, (4) stay of proceeding, (5) withdrawn, dismissed or discharged, (6) not criminally responsible, (7) other, and (8) transfer of court jurisdiction. Second, in cases where two or more charges result in the same MSD (for example, guilty), Criminal Code sanctions are considered.

The charge with the most serious offence type is selected according to an offence seriousness scale, based on actual sentences handed down by courts in Canada (The offence seriousness scale is calculated using data from both the adult and youth components of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey). Each offence type is ranked by looking at (1) the proportion of guilty charges where custody

Page | 17 was imposed and (2) the average (mean) length of custody for the specific type of offence. These values are multiplied together to arrive at the final seriousness ranking for each type of offence. If, after looking at the offence seriousness scale, two or more charges remain tied then information about the sentence type and duration of the sentence are considered (for example, custody and length of custody, then probation and length of probation, etcetera). 6.

Guilty findings include guilty of the charged offence, of an included offence, of an attempt of the charged offence, or of an attempt of an included offence. This category also includes guilty pleas, and cases where an absolute or conditional discharge has been imposed. 7. It is possible to receive more than one sentence type in relation to a guilty charge in a case. Only the most serious sentence in the case is represented.

Sentence types are ranked from most to least serious as follows: Custody; conditional sentence; probation; fine; and other (restitution, absolute or conditional discharge, suspended sentence, other). 8. Since 2004/2005 for the Northwest Territories, the number of custody orders have been under-reported and the number of probation orders have been over-reported by unknown amounts due to clerical procedures. The majority of custody orders were captured as probation. 9. The conditional sentence of imprisonment option came into effect under Bill C-41 in September 1996.

When a conditional sentence is imposed, the offender serves their sentence in the community under supervision. The prerequisites for imposing a conditional sentence include: the offence must not have a prescribed minimum sentence; the maximum sentence of imprisonment for the offence must be less than 2 years; and the court must be satisfied that the offender would not endanger the safety of the community.

The offender who receives such a conditional sentence of imprisonment must abide by certain conditions, such as "house arrest", curfew, alcohol or driving prohibition, treatment programs or a community service order, and may be sent to prison if he or she violates those conditions.

Yukon began reporting conditional sentencing data in 1996/1997; Saskatchewan began in 1997/1998; Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Alberta began in 1998/1999; Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia began in 1999/2000; New Brunswick and British Columbia began in 2000/2001; Nunavut began in 2002/2003, Manitoba in 2005/2006 and Quebec in 2013/2014. The Northwest Territories does not report conditional sentencing data at this time. In Quebec, most conditional sentences are recorded in conjunction with a custodial sentence.

As a result, conditional sentences as the 'most serious sentence' are undercounted and custodial sentences are over-counted on the ICCS. 10. Quebec did not report conditional sentencing data for reference periods prior to 2013/2014. Changes to how conditional sentence information is reported to the ICCS were implemented in 2019/2020. Prior to 2019/2020, most guilty cases with a conditional sentence were recorded as having received both custody and a conditional sentence. As a result, conditional sentences were largely under-counted as the most serious sentence, while custodial sentences were over-counted. 11.

Other most serious sentences include restitution, absolute and conditional discharge, suspended sentence, community service order and prohibition orders among others. Figures for "other" as the most serious sentence are low since they are among the least serious sentence types, and are often used in combination with other more serious sentences. 12. Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) data for Quebec were not available for 2021/2022. 13. The firearms offences included in this tables are defined as Criminal Code sections 95(2)(a), 96(2)(a), 99, 100, 103, RSC 1985.

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.

Page | 18 Table 4 Selected guilty firearms cases by length of custody, Canada, adult criminal courts, 2012/2013 to 2021/2022 Criminal Code

Section Total guilty cases sentenced to custody with known custody length Custody length category Less than 1 year 1 - <2 years 2 - <4 years 4 - <6 years 6 - <8 years 8 - 10 years number number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent number percent s.95(2)(a) 253 55 22 81 32 106 42 9 4 2 1 0 0 s.96(2)(a) 22 7 32 12 55 2 9 0 0 1 5 0 0 s.99 198 31 16 44 22 91 46 23 12 8 4 1 1 s.100 53 5 9 12 23 24 45 8 15 3 6 1 2 s.103 18 5 28 7 39 5 28 1 6 0 0 0 0 1. This product is based on data from the adult component of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS).

The ICCS is administered by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (Statistics Canada) in collaboration with provincial and territorial government departments responsible for criminal courts in Canada. The survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences. Data contained in this table represent the adult criminal court portion of the survey, namely individuals who were 18 years of age or older at the time of the offence. Data are based on a fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). 2.

As of 2005/2006, all provincial and territorial courts in 10 provinces and 3 territories report to the survey. Information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec are not available for extraction from their electronic reporting systems and are therefore not reported to the survey. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was also unavailable until 2018/2019.

The absence of data from superior courts in these jurisdictions may result in a slight underestimation of the severity of sentences since some of the most serious cases, which are likely to result in the most severe sanctions, are processed in superior courts. There may also be a slight underestimation of case elapsed times as more serious cases generally require more court appearances and take more time to complete. 3.

A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company, which were processed by the courts at the same time (date of offence, date of initiation, date of first appearance, or date of decision), and received a final decision. The definition attempts to reflect court processing. All data have been processed using this case definition. The case definition changed for the 2006/2007 release of data. The former definition (used in releases prior to October 2007) combined all charges against the same person disposed of in court on the same day into a case.

Consequently, comparisons should not be made with data tables and reports released before that time. 4. Cases are counted in the fiscal year in which they are completed. Every year, the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) database is considered final at the end of March for the production of court statistics for the previous fiscal year. These counts do not include cases pending an outcome at the end of the reference period. If an outcome is reached in the next fiscal year, these cases are included in the completed case counts for that fiscal year.

However, cases that are inactive for one year are deemed complete and the originally published counts for the previous fiscal year are updated and reported in the next fiscal year's data release. 5. A case that has more than one charge is represented by the charge with the "most serious offence" (MSO). The most serious offence is selected using the following rules. First, court decisions are considered and the charge with the "most serious decision" (MSD) is selected.

Court decisions for each charge in a case are ranked from most to least serious as follows: (1) guilty, (2) guilty of a lesser offence, (3) acquitted, (4) stay of proceeding, (5) withdrawn, dismissed or discharged, (6) not criminally responsible, (7) other, and (8) transfer of court jurisdiction. Second, in cases where two or more charges result in the same MSD (for example, guilty), Criminal Code sanctions are

Page | 19 considered. The charge with the most serious offence type is selected according to an offence seriousness scale, based on actual sentences handed down by courts in Canada (The offence seriousness scale is calculated using data from both the adult and youth components of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey). Each offence type is ranked by looking at (1) the proportion of guilty charges where custody was imposed and (2) the average (mean) length of custody for the specific type of offence. These values are multiplied together to arrive at the final seriousness ranking for each type of offence.

If, after looking at the offence seriousness scale, two or more charges remain tied then information about the sentence type and duration of the sentence are considered (for example, custody and length of custody, then probation and length of probation, etcetera). 6. Guilty findings include guilty of the charged offence, of an included offence, of an attempt of the charged offence, or of an attempt of an included offence. This category also includes guilty pleas, and cases where an absolute or conditional discharge has been imposed. 7.

Since 2004/2005 for the Northwest Territories, the number of custody orders have been under-reported and the number of probation orders have been over-reported by unknown amounts due to clerical procedures. The majority of custody orders were captured as probation. 8. Custodial sentence lengths are intended to reflect the amount of time remaining to be served on a custodial sentence after credit has been awarded for time spent in pre- sentence custody. However, in some jurisdictions, the length of custody information represents the total length of custody imposed by court.

Certain jurisdictions report a greater proportion of "unknown" for length of custody. 9. The "Unknown" category for length of custody includes indeterminate custody sentences. In some provinces/territories, particularly British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and New Brunswick, the unknown category may include guilty cases with custody where the custodial sentence ordered has already been served and the time remaining is equal to zero. 10. Length of custody data are not available from Manitoba. 11. Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) data for Quebec were not available for 2021/2022. 12.

The firearms offences included in this tables are defined as Criminal Code sections 95(2)(a), 96(2)(a), 99, 100, 103, RSC 1985. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.

Page | 20 Table 5 Selected guilty firearms cases by mean and median length of custody, Canada, adult criminal courts, 2012/2013 to 2021/2022 Criminal Code

Section Total number of guilty cases sentenced to custody with known custody length Custody length (days) Mean Standard deviation 5th percentile 25th percentile Median 75th percentile 95th percentile s.95(2)(a) 253 713 419 90 365 710 1,080 1,341 s.96(2)(a) 22 495 504 90 300 365 450 1,095 s.99 198 907 550 45 540 930 1,095 2,130 s.100 53 1,023 641 53 663 960 1,125 2,295 s.103 18 586 405 15 296 510 910 1,460 1. This product is based on data from the adult component of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS).

The ICCS is administered by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (Statistics Canada) in collaboration with provincial and territorial government departments responsible for criminal courts in Canada. The survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences. Data contained in this table represent the adult criminal court portion of the survey, namely individuals who were 18 years of age or older at the time of the offence. Data are based on a fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). 2.

As of 2005/2006, all provincial and territorial courts in 10 provinces and 3 territories report to the survey. Information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec are not available for extraction from their electronic reporting systems and are therefore not reported to the survey. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was also unavailable until 2018/2019.

The absence of data from superior courts in these jurisdictions may result in a slight underestimation of the severity of sentences since some of the most serious cases, which are likely to result in the most severe sanctions, are processed in superior courts. There may also be a slight underestimation of case elapsed times as more serious cases generally require more court appearances and take more time to complete. 3.

A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company, which were processed by the courts at the same time (date of offence, date of initiation, date of first appearance, or date of decision), and received a final decision. The definition attempts to reflect court processing. All data have been processed using this case definition. The case definition changed for the 2006/2007 release of data. The former definition (used in releases prior to October 2007) combined all charges against the same person disposed of in court on the same day into a case.

Consequently, comparisons should not be made with data tables and reports released before that time. 4. Cases are counted in the fiscal year in which they are completed. Every year, the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) database is considered final at the end of March for the production of court statistics for the previous fiscal year. These counts do not include cases pending an outcome at the end of the reference period. If an outcome is reached in the next fiscal year, these cases are included in the completed case counts for that fiscal year.

However, cases that are inactive for one year are deemed complete and the originally published counts for the previous fiscal year are updated and reported in the next fiscal year's data release. 5. A case that has more than one charge is represented by the charge with the "most serious offence" (MSO). The most serious offence is selected using the following rules. First, court decisions are considered and the charge with the "most serious decision" (MSD) is selected.

Court decisions for each charge in a case are ranked from most to least serious as follows: (1) guilty, (2) guilty of a lesser offence, (3) acquitted, (4) stay of proceeding, (5) withdrawn, dismissed or discharged, (6) not criminally responsible, (7) other, and (8) transfer of court jurisdiction. Second, in cases where two or more charges result in the same MSD (for example, guilty), Criminal Code sanctions are considered.

The charge with the most serious offence type is selected according to an offence seriousness scale, based on actual sentences handed down by courts in Canada (The offence seriousness scale is calculated using

Page | 21 data from both the adult and youth components of the Integrated Criminal Court Survey). Each offence type is ranked by looking at (1) the proportion of guilty charges where custody was imposed and (2) the average (mean) length of custody for the specific type of offence. These values are multiplied together to arrive at the final seriousness ranking for each type of offence.

If, after looking at the offence seriousness scale, two or more charges remain tied then information about the sentence type and duration of the sentence are considered (for example, custody and length of custody, then probation and length of probation, etcetera). 6. Guilty findings include guilty of the charged offence, of an included offence, of an attempt of the charged offence, or of an attempt of an included offence. This category also includes guilty pleas, and cases where an absolute or conditional discharge has been imposed. 7.

Since 2004/2005 for the Northwest Territories, the number of custody orders have been under-reported and the number of probation orders have been over-reported by unknown amounts due to clerical procedures. The majority of custody orders were captured as probation. 8. Custodial sentence lengths are intended to reflect the amount of time remaining to be served on a custodial sentence after credit has been awarded for time spent in pre-sentence custody. However, in some jurisdictions, the length of custody information represents the total length of custody imposed by court.

Certain jurisdictions report a greater proportion of "unknown" for length of custody. 9. Length of custody data are not available from Manitoba. 10. The median is the point at which half of all cases had longer sentence lengths and half had shorter sentence lengths. 11. The median length of custody in Quebec may be over-estimated given that data from municipal courts, which tend to handle the least serious matters, are unavailable from this province. 12. Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) data for Quebec were not available for 2021/2022. 13.

The firearms offences included in this tables are defined as Criminal Code sections 95(2)(a), 96(2)(a), 99, 100, 103, RSC 1985. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.