Police-reported crime data are drawn from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, a census of all crime known to police services. Police-reported crime statistics conform to a nationally approved set of common crime categories and definitions. They have been systematically reported by police services and submitted annually to Statistics Canada since 1962. Differences in local police service policies, procedures and enforcement practices can affect the comparability of crime trends.
See “Definitions” for detailed explanations of common concepts and terminology used in the analysis of police-reported crime information.
The quarterly counts are preliminary data and are expected to differ from final official annual results released in the summer each year. They reflect all microdata submissions received monthly from police services before the date the data were finalized for release.
Data coverage for preliminary police-reported data varies monthly. Preliminary data were reported by police services covering 91% to 99% of the population of Canada. Monthly data may be incomplete because of ongoing police investigations or delays in data entry. Official annual police-reported data will be available in July 2026.