Sask. sets homicide record for 3rd straight year: StatsCan data

Police in Saskatchewan reported 71 homicides last year, setting a provincial record for a third consecutive year, new federal data shows.

Statistics Canada released its annual crime statistics Thursday morning. The data was collected from municipal police services and RCMP detachments.

The 71 people killed in the province last year — which includes the 11 victims from last September's mass stabbing at James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Sask. — was one more than was killed in 2021, data shows.

Saskatchewan has set homicide records each year since 2020. StatsCan homicide data goes back to 1961.

CBC News has contacted the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety for comment.

Data shows 47 — or two in three — of the people killed in Saskatchewan last year were Indigenous, most of whom were men. Manitoba was the only place in Canada with more Indigenous people killed by homicide, reporting 61.

Fifteen of the homicides reported in Saskatchewan last year were tied to organized crime or gangs, a decrease from 25 in 2021, data shows.

Seven of the homicide victims in the province last year were the alleged assailant's spouse, data shows, accounting for 10 per cent of these deaths in Canada.

StatsCan includes incidents where the victim was at least 15 years old. The agency included people who were legally married, common-law, separated common-law, divorced, as well as current and former same-gender spouses.

In cases where more than one person was accused, StatsCan only counted the closest relationship between the victim and the accused.

Sask. crime severity leads provinces

Saskatchewan recorded the highest crime severity among the Canadian provinces last year, data shows.

The crime severity index calculates crime reported to police per 100,000 population, but it is a more accurate measure than a crime rate because it weighs the seriousness of a crime. Homicide, for example, weighs more than drug possession.

Saskatchewan recorded a crime severity rate of about 152.5 last year, data shows. Only the northern territories reported higher rates.

Violent crime severity — which only weighs violent crimes — climbed again in Saskatchewan, reaching 190.3, the highest rate since at least 1998, data shows. Saskatchewan was second among the provinces, behind Manitoba.

Saskatchewan's non-violent crime severity also increased to 138.6 last year, up nearly five points from 2021, data shows. Saskatchewan led the provinces in this measure.

Historically, the Regina and Saskatoon census metropolitan areas — which include surrounding communities outside city limits — have led the country's urban areas in crime severity, data shows. They are still country leaders, but their rankings have slid over the past several years.

Last year, the Saskatoon and Regina areas ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, compared to other metropolitan areas in Canada, data shows. Winnipeg, Kelowna, B.C., and Lethbridge, Alta., ranked higher.

"There is clearly still work to do. We don't ever want to be in the top 10," said Lorilee Davies, acting police chief of the Regina Police Service, during a news conference Thursday morning.

"But the fact that we are making some small inroads, in comparison to some of the other jurisdictions in Canada, is good news generally."

Regina police reported eight homicides last year, down from a record 15 homicides in 2021, data shows. Davies believes the decrease pushed down the city's crime severity rate.

The service may look to other jurisdictions to see if they are doing something that can be implemented in Regina, Davies said, but otherwise the stats won't really change the work police are doing in the city.

Regina police recently released monthly crime stats, which show some crime, such as robberies and assaults, was up in the city through the first half of 2023 compared to the same point in 2022.

Cybercrime grows in Regina, Saskatoon

The number of police-reported cybercrime incidents throughout Saskatchewan plateaued last year, but rose in its two biggest cities.

StatsCan defines cybercrime as a criminal violation in which a computer or the Internet was either the target of a crime or used to commit the crime.

Data shows police in Saskatchewan reported nearly 1,890 cybercrime incidents last year, about half of which were reported in Saskatoon.

The cybercrime dataset only goes back to 2014. But since then, the number of incidents reported in the province has multiplied by more than three.

In Saskatoon, incidents have risen nearly sevenfold. In Regina, they've risen fivefold.

Davies attributed the increase to technological advancements and people developing a better understanding of how to take advantage of the technology available.

She expects the trend will lead to a strengthened cyber law enforcement network, as the incidents often cross borders.

"Those investigations are so complex and take so much time that the Regina Police Service, on our own, might not be able to handle a huge investigation," Davies said.

"If we've got a network and support, and a larger group of people that all work together to that same end, that's really where we need to go."

The dataset does not break down the types of cybercrime reported.

The Regina police, Davies said, has seen more reports across the board, including crimes such as child exploitation and fraud.

Saskatchewan RCMP also recently announced a significant increase in the number of cases of sexual extortion — or sextortion. It's a form of blackmail where someone threatens to distribute a sexual image or video if the victim doesn't comply to what the assailant demands.