According to a StatCan report, crime rates are on the rise across Canada
The only province where the crime rate is falling is New Brunswick.
According to Statistics Canada (StatCan), New Brunswick was the only province in the country to have fewer crimes recorded by police in 2022 than the previous year.
The StatCan Crime Severity Index, a measure that includes violations of the criminal code and other federal laws, rose 4% across Canada last year. The province of Manitoba saw the largest increase, up as much as 14%. Manitoba was followed by Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, where crime rose 6%.
However, New Brunswick goes against the trend common to the rest of the country. Here, the crime severity index for 2022 is down 2% from 2021.
Neil Boyd — a professor emeritus in the criminology department at Simon Fraser University — spoke to CTV News and said it's important to take a close look at the factors that may protect New Brunswick from the problems seen in other provinces.
"We tend to think sometimes that crime goes up and down because of the legislation that we impose. But if you look at the legislation we've imposed over time in the Criminal Code amendments, they don't really have much impact. It's cultural change that matters," Boyd shared his thoughts.
The crime situation in New Brunswick is not clear-cut. While overall crime rates across the province have declined, the City of Fredericton has seen an increase in non-violent crime. While violent crimes — robbery, extortion, homicide and sex crimes — are down in the city, property and drug offenses are on the rise.
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