Murders in Canada spiked to a 30-year high last year, which was driven in part by the Nova Scotia mass shooting.
New data from Statistics Canada shows there were 743 murders last year, which is the highest number recorded in the country since 1991.
Meantime, the national homicide rate was the highest since 2005.
Stats Canada attributes the increase to the April 2020 tragedy in Nova Scotia along with a rise in homicides in Alberta.
Canada’s worst-ever mass shooting
Twenty-two people were killed by a lone gunman who was disguised as a police officer during a 13-hour rampage, which began in Portapique in Colchester County.
He took the lives of 13 people on the night of April 18, 2020, and another nine the next day before he was killed by police outside an Enfield gas station.
“Most of the increase in Nova Scotia was due to the mass shooting in April 2020 that killed 22 people and injured 3 others,” Stats Canada says. “This attack contributed to an uncharacteristically high homicide count and rate for the province of Nova Scotia in 2020 and is also reflected in the increase in firearm-related homicide for the province.”
In total, there were 35 murders in Nova Scotia in 2020, which is the highest number since the data became available in 1961.
The provincial homicide rate was 3.57 per 100,000 population.
Last year was the deadliest for killings in Alberta where 139 homicides were reported. Stats Canada says most of the deaths were due to gun violence.
Pandemic shifts crime patterns
The national statistical agency sats the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a shift in crime patterns across the country.
The Crime Severity Index (CSI), which measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, dropped by 8 per cent.
Homicide rates, however, increased.
“Many victim service providers and victim advocates have expressed concerns over the impact of lockdown restrictions and stay-at-home orders put in place due to the pandemic on violence in the home,” the report says. “Risk factors for family violence such as social isolation, reduced income and job loss were amplified amidst the pandemic, potentially leading to increased tension in the home and escalations of violence.”
An online survey conducted by Stats Canada in March 2020 found 8 per cent of Canadians were worried about violence in the home during the pandemic.
The number of spousal homicides fell by 9 in 2020, but Canada saw more murders committed by other family members and intimate partners.
