There’s encouraging news for Canadians as new Statistics Canada data released Wednesday shows crime rates fell by five per cent in 2025.
This marks the second consecutive annual decrease after nearly a decade of increases between 2015 and 2023.
According to the report, rates of breaking and entering are down for the third consecutive year, while motor vehicle thefts fell 16 per cent in 2025 and 2024.
Homicide rates are also down by 16 per cent from 2024 – representing the largest year-over-year decline since 1986 and the lowest rate since 2014.
Despite the downward trend, some Montrealers told CityNews that the situation on the ground is different.
“I’m really surprised because I feel like it’s not that way,” said one Montrealer. “I feel like we’re not putting money into things that show that crimes are going down.”
“I feel like it’s worse,” said another. “I’m from Ottawa, downtown, and it’s pretty bad there. So, I came to Montreal to get away from it.”
While some felt they do not feel a change, others said they feel reassured by the country’s law enforcement.
“I have complete confidence in public safety and in the security services provided by Canada, so I feel better and safer in this community,” said another Montrealer.
Experts say the decrease in the crime rates seen in recent years is due to many factors.
“We’re living in a post-pandemic era, so basically the nature of crime, the frequency of crime has changed,” says Fo Niemi, executive director of Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations.
“The other thing too is that usually there’s a generational effect. As people grow older, the younger people who tend to commit crimes sometimes would commit less crime because they’re getting older. That’s part of the demographic trend over the years.”
Concordia University associate professor Ted Rutland says the declining rate in crimes is part of a long-term trend in the country, with the exception of the pandemic.
“We’ve had safer and safer cities over the long term,” Rutland said. “There was an increase in certain kinds of crime in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2021-22 and so what we’re seeing is a return to a decline, which is good news.”
While there was an overall decline in the Crime Severity Index, certain types of crimes increased in 2025.
Shoplifting shot up by 11 per cent in 2025, showing a steady increase for the fifth consecutive year and spiking up 79 per cent from 2015 to 2025.
Rutland says an increase in shoplifting crimes doesn’t necessarily mean there was more crime, but rather it could just mean that more people were caught.
“But it wouldn’t be surprising to me if there was more shoplifting in a time where the cost of living is escalating,” Rutland added. “Governments aren’t doing much to address it and people are feeling frustrated seeing the cost of basic goods increasing week after week.”
Niemi says statistics doesn’t tell the full story.
“We have to look at what is the nature of the crime that is going down, what’s the nature of the crime that is not going down in order to address the more deep-rooted factors behind the crimes,” Niemi added.
In the end, Rutland says crime rates are a reflection of how well the country is working.
“If the society is functioning properly, then there’s less violent crime. If people’s needs are met, there’s less property crime. And so what we’ve generally seen over the last 30 years has been a society that functions relatively well.”
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