B.C. driving up Canada’s homicide rate

Vancouver had the highest increase in homicides out of all of Canada’s metropolitan areas. Canada hit its highest murder rate in almost a decade in 2017, driven by a significant increase in gun- and gang-related homicides in B.C. and Quebec. That’s according to the latest Statistics Canada data, which show that the firearm-related homicide rate increased 18 per cent last year from 2016, the highest rate since 1992. Two provinces drove the national increase: B.C. with 118 homicide victims, up 30 from 2016; and Quebec, which reported 93 victims, up 26.The homicide rate in B.C. was up 32 per cent, says StatsCan, making it the province’s highest rate since 2009, the year a drug gang war plagued the region. The numbers were highest in B.C. in Metro Vancouver, which reported 52 homicide victims in 2017, its highest number since 2009. A rise in firearm-related incidents contributed to the increase. StatsCan says 48 per cent of victims in Vancouver were killed by a firearm compared with 44 per cent in 2016, representing an increase of seven victims. Most firearmrelated homicide victims (68 per cent) in Vancouver were killed with a handgun.