As crime increases across Canada, New Brunswick sole province where rates drop
CTV
New Brunswick was the only province in Canada to record fewer police-reported crimes in 2022 compared with the prior year, data from Statistics Canada show.
New Brunswick was the only province in Canada to record fewer police-reported crimes in 2022 compared with the prior year, data from Statistics Canada show.
The agency's crime severity index -- a measure that includes violations of the Criminal Code and other federal statutes -- rose by four per cent across Canada in 2022. Manitoba recorded the biggest increase, with 14 per cent, followed by Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, all with jumps of six per cent.
But New Brunswick bucked the national trend, with a crime severity index dropping by two per cent in 2022 compared with 2021.
Neil Boyd, professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University's school of criminology, said there needs to be a closer look at what would insulate New Brunswick from some of the problems seen in other cities.
"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," he said in a recent interview.
"It's cultural change that matters."
Crime in New Brunswick, however, isn't evenly distributed. While crime fell across the province, the city of Fredericton recorded increases in non-violent crime. As rates dropped in the city for violent crime -- robbery, extortion, homicide and sexual assault -- they rose for such things as property and drug offences.
