Hamilton area homicide rate doubles in 2013

Hamilton’s homicide rate for 2013 was more than double the rate from the previous year, according to new data released Monday by statistics Canada.

There were 15 homicides in the Hamilton census metropolitan area last year (which includes Burlington and Grimsby). There were just six homicides in 2012.

Homicide levels in Hamilton tend to fluctuate from year to year. There were seven homicides in this area in 2011, compared to 12 in 2010.

Hamilton has seven homicides to date in 2014.

Overall, there were 2.04 homicides per 100,000 people in the Hamilton CMA last year, which is above the national rate. Hamilton had the fifth-highest homicide rate in the country in 2013.

There were 505 homicides country-wide last year, which is an eight per cent reduction from the year before. That’s Canada’s lowest homicide rate since 1966.

Among Canada's other CMAs, Regina reported the highest homicide rate at 3.84 per per 100,000 people, followed by Winnipeg at 3.24 and Thunder Bay at 2.46. Homicide rates were below the national average in two of Canada’s largest cities, Toronto (1.34) and Montréal (1.08).

There were 131 gun-related homicides at the national level in 2013, down 41 from 2012. This makes for the lowest rate of gun-related murders since statistics Canada started tracking them in 1974. Despite the decline, shooting was still the cause of death in 27 per cent of the country’s homicides.

While firearm-related homicides decreased in 2013, the number of fatal stabbings grew. There were 195 fatal stabbings in Canada last year, which is 31 more than in 2012. Stabbings accounted for 40 per cent of all homicides in Canada in 2013.

Almost 9 in 10 of homicides solved by police in 2013 involved a victim who was killed by someone they knew, compared with 13 per cent of victims who were killed by a stranger.