Nunavut crime rates keep on soaring

Statistics Canada’s 2003 national crime numbers show that crime is growing faster in Nunavut than in any other jurisdiction in the country, and faster than the rate of growth in Nunavut’s population since 1999.

In 2003, Nunavut owned the second-highest per capita crime rate in Canada, exceeded only by the Northwest Territories.

As in the past, Nunavut’s rate of violent crime is the highest in the country – nine times higher than the national rate, driven by high numbers of domestic assaults and sexual assaults.

And Nunavut is still the only jurisdiction in Canada where the rate of violent crime is greater than the rate of property crime.

Data extracted from Statistics Canada’s online database shows that the raw numbers of people charged with criminal offences every year in Nunavut have almost doubled since 1999.

For example, in 1999, 1,362 Nunavummiut were charged with criminal offences.

In 2003, that number rose to 2,333. In 1999, 5,187 incidents were reported to police; in 2003, that number had risen to 10,724.

Numbers like that caused Nunavut’s crime rate to rise 17.2 per cent between 2002 and 2003. The rate of property crime rose by 15.2 per cent, and the rate of violent crime rose by 9 per cent.

Here are some sample numbers:

Total persons charged in Nunavut
1999 – 1,362
2000 – 1,681
2001 – 1,921
2002 – 2, 180
2003 – 2,333

Total persons charged in Nunavut, crimes of violence
1999 – 630
2000 – 862
2001 – 858
2002 – 942
2003 – 1, 047

Total persons charged in Nunavut, sexual assault
1999 – 92
2000 – 113
2001 – 142
2002 – 155
2003 – 166

Total persons charged in Nunavut, property crimes
1999 – 334
2000 – 276
2001 – 397
2002 – 500
2003 – 571

Total reported criminal incidents in Nunavut
1999 – 5,187
2000 – 6,134
2001 – 7,627
2002 – 8,949
2003 – 10,724

Source: Statistics Canada CANSIM database