Sask. violent crimes involving guns rose 8.3 per cent in 2021: Statistics Canada

Violent gun-related crimes in Saskatchewan rose 8.3 per cent in 2021 from 2020, newly released data from Statistics Canada shows.

In total, there were 23,286 victims of violent crimes reported by police in Saskatchewan in 2021. Of those, 953 involved a firearm, 474 involved another weapon, 15,415 involved no weapon and 1,446 had an unknown weapon.

Saskatchewan’s rate of victims of violent crime involving a gun – 82.5 per 100,000 population – is the highest among the 10 provinces. Only the Northwest Territories at 160.4 per 100,000 population, and Nunavut at 172.6 had higher rates in Canada.

The province’s 953 crimes involving a firearm were up from 880 in 2020. The majority (513) occurred in urban areas, with 254 in the rural south and 186 in the rural north.

In 2021, there were 22 firearm-related homicides in Saskatchewan, which accounted for 35.5 per cent of the total homicides in the province. That figure was up from 19 in 2020, according to another Statistics Canada report.

Seven of those homicides involving a firearm in 2021 were reported in Regina.

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The highest rates of firearm-related crime were reported in the rural northern areas of the provinces, according to Statistics Canada.

Victims of violent firearm-related crimes in rural northern Saskatchewan declined in 2021, down to 186 from 188 in 2020. But, the region still had the highest rate per 100,000 population (467.5) by provincial region in Canada.

Stats Canada noted that the higher rates in northern regions of the country is likely a reflection of overall higher crime rates.

In rural northern Saskatchewan, 3.5 per cent of violent crimes involved a firearm. That mark is lower than the national average of 2.5 per cent in rural north regions.

That percentage was also lower than what was reported in the rural south (four per cent) and urban (five per cent) areas of the province.

Nationally, there were 326,872 victims of violent crimes reported by police in 2021.

Of that total, 8,047 involved a firearm, 64,833 involved another weapon, in 241,989 there were no weapons involved and 12,003 had an unknown weapon.

Of those with a firearm present, 4,342 involved a handgun, 1,448 involved a rifle/shotgun, 43 involved a fully automatic firearm, 366 were sawed-off rifles or shotguns and 1,848 involved “firearm-like” weapons or an unknown type of firearm.

The number of victims of violent crimes involving a gun dropped by 5.5 per cent in 2021 – down from 8,464 in 2020 – and sat at a rate of 27.4 per 100,000 population.

Statistics Canada based rate data on July 1 population estimates.