High rural crime rates reported in northern Manitoba: Statistics Canada

A new report from Statistics Canada says northern Manitoba has one of the higher rural crime rates in Canada.

According to the report released Monday, the rural crime rate in northern Manitoba was 36,062 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021, the second highest in Canada. Only northern-Saskatchewan was higher, with 67,886 incidents per 100,000 population.

The urban northern crime rate was also the highest among provinces, with 52,386 reported incidents per 100,000 people. British Columbia was a distant second with a reported 14,748 incidents per 100,000 people.

"It's a trend we've seen over the past couple of years, that crime in general, both the traditional rate and CSI (Crime Severity Index) is higher in rural than it is in urban areas," said Stats Can Analyst Adam Cotter.

The study found rural Manitoba had higher annual rates of homicide, assault and sexual assault, compared to urban areas. It also shows rural areas that police serve represent 15 per cent of the population, but reported 24 per cent of violent crime, 18 per cent of property crime and 30 per cent of traffic offences.

The study says that, while crime rates overall are higher in rural areas in Canada compared to urban areas, not all rural residents live in areas where there is a high crime rate. Statistics Canada says nine per cent of residents live in areas where the 2021 crime rate was less than 2,000 incidents per 100,000 population, compared to six per cent of the urban population.

It also found 26 per cent of the rural population lives in an area with a crime rate between 2,000 and 2,999 incidents per 100,000 population, compared to 18 per cent of people in urban environments.

“Nevertheless, it is also observed that a larger share of the rural population than the urban population lives in a community where the crime rate is very high,” the report reads. “For example, 14 per cent of the rural population lives in a community with a crime rate of 10,000 or more incidents per 100,000 population.

“Therefore, it is mainly because of these rural communities where the crime rate is very high that the crime rate for all rural areas is higher than the urban crime rate.”

Local leaders have raised issues about crime in rural Manitoba. Last July, CTV News reported Manitoba has the highest RCMP vacancy rate among the provinces.

"In our area that's a significant challenge, the lack of policing that takes place and the expanse with which you have to cover," said Brad Erb, the reeve of the R.M. of Macdonald.

Despite negative numbers, the report also shows people in rural and northern Manitoba are more likely to report crimes and the populations are smaller, which can skew the stats.

"An increase of five or 10 offences will have a lot greater impact on the overall crime rate," said Cotter.

The full report can be read here.