OTTAWA -- The national crime rate in Canada dropped in 2007 for the third year in a row, continuing an overall downward trend since peaking in 1991, Statistics Canada said in a report released Thursday.
The agency said there was a 7% drop in the crime rate in 2007 from the previous year, driven mainly by decreases in counterfeiting and property offences such as thefts and break-ins.
Following two years of increases in most serious violent offences, police also reported fewer homicides, attempted murders, sexual assaults and robberies last year.
The data, which come from police reports, revealed that crime rates were down in all provinces and territories except Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.
Western Canada and the northern territories had the highest crime rates in the country, continuing a pattern observed over the past 30 years.
Homicides in Manitoba, for instance, were at their highest rate ever since recording began in 1961. There were 62 homicides reported in the province last year, 23 more than in 2006. The province also reported a dramatic 53% increase in attempted murder last year. Most of the increase occurred in small urban and rural areas, Statistics Canada said.
And, although Saskatchewan's crime rate declined by more than 3%, it still had the highest overall crime rate, as well as the highest rate of violent crime. For the fourth year in a row, the lowest provincial crime rates occurred in Ontario and Quebec.
While British Columbia had the highest property crime rate, the homicide rate last year was at its lowest in more than four decades.
Authorities reported declines in homicides in every province except Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick.
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