According to this Metro News article, Canadian homicide rates have hit a 44-year low as evidenced by a new report from Statistics Canada.
The Canadian homicide numbers in the report by Statistics Canada are for the year 2010, but some cities such as Toronto are still on target for a lower-than-average number of homicides for 2011. And despite being the largest city in Canada, Toronto’s homicide rate ranks well below other cities such as Thunder Bay, Winnipeg and Edmonton.
In addition, Toronto’s homicide rate is actually lower than the overall homicide rate across Canada. Canada’s overall homicide rate is 1.62 (1.62 reads per 100,000 people), while Toronto’s is only 1.4.
There are a number of theories as to why Canada’s homicide is dropping so nicely, including the aging baby-boomer population and the long gun registry or other gun laws.