Introduction

Under the Canadian Constitution, the federal, provincial and territorial governments share the responsibility for criminal justice and responding to the needs of victims of crime. The federal government is responsible for the criminal law and procedure, much of which is set out in the Criminal Code. The federal government is also responsible for the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (CVBR), which sets out rights for victims of crime at the federal level in relation to information, protection, participation, and to seeking restitution. The federal government also conducts the prosecution of Criminal Code offences in the territories.

Provinces and territories (PTs), however, are principally responsible for the administration of justice, which includes enforcing the Criminal Code, prosecuting Criminal Code offences (except in the territories), the delivery of victim services and enacting victim legislation at the PT level. All PTs have services for victims of crime, such as providing information and referrals, and all jurisdictions are responsible for administering funds received as a result of victim surcharges on federal and provincial offences.

At the same time, however, all levels of government have endorsed a shared set of objectives to guide the development of policies, programs, and legislation for victims of crime in Canada. These objectives are outlined in the Canadian Statement of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime (2003), which promotes the fair treatment of victims within the justice system. In 2015, many of these principles were integrated into the federal CVBR, which outlines victims’ rights to information, protection, participation, and to request restitution. Each province also has its own specific legislation for victims of crime.

Victim services in each province and territory employ different service delivery models to meet the needs of victims of crime in their jurisdiction. A wide range of services is available to victims, including general and case-specific information, short-term counselling and crisis support, protection services, court preparation and accompaniment, and assistance preparing and filing Victim Impact Statements or requests for restitution. These services are provided by police-based victim services, government agencies (system- and court-based services), and community-based organizations.

The federal government also offers support to victims through a number of initiatives. For example, the Federal Victims Strategy (FVS), led by the Policy Centre for Victim Issues (PCVI) at the Department of Justice Canada (JUS), provides funding to provincial and territorial governments and non-governmental organizations to support the development and delivery of victim services, as well as to support victims attending Parole Board of Canada (PBC) hearings, and for Canadians victimized abroad through the Victims Fund. Other services and supports are offered by Public Safety Canada’s National Office for Victims (NOV), Correctional Service Canada (CSC), and the PBC. Crown Witness Coordinators work with federal prosecutors at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and provide information and assistance to victim witnesses in the three territories. The Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, an institution that operates independently from the federal government, assists victims in their dealings with federal departments and agencies.

In 2018, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS), a unit at Statistics Canada, released Victims of police-reported violent crime in Canada: National, provincial and territorial fact sheets, 2016.Footnote 1 This report updates those fact sheets for federal victim services and each province and territory, focusing on statistics from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR). These statistics cover the number of victims of violent crime, the types of crimes experienced, and victim characteristics for each jurisdiction.

Additionally, the fact sheets present selected indicators on the provision of victim services in each jurisdiction. The UCR Survey data on victims of violent crime is provided by police services covering 99% of the Canadian population and is based on standardized concepts and Criminal Code definitions to allow cross-jurisdictional comparisons. However, data on the provision of victim services should not be compared across jurisdictions due to differences in definitions and counting methods (see Textbox 1).

Textbox 1: Important differences in victim counts

This fact sheet presents information from both the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) and directly from the provinces and territories and federal agencies. It is important to be aware that several jurisdictions count victims in different ways and as a result, provinces and territories should not be compared to each other.

The UCR provides a count of victims in police-reported incidents; victim counts are only for violent incidents and Criminal Code traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, including physical or sexual assault, and a victim involved in multiple incidents would be counted multiple times. The provinces, territories and federal agencies all measure the number of victims assisted by victim services programs.

There are, however, two notable situations which can affect the counts of victims served. In some jurisdictions, particularly those with system-based victim services, victims of multiple domestic violence incidents by the same offender may only be counted once as a single file is maintained on them over time. The second situation occurs in jurisdictions where victim services are provided by a variety of police-based, court-based and community-based agencies which all provide data to the provincial/territorial ministry/department responsible for victim services. In this situation, a victim who has multiple points of contact with these agencies (such as with a sexual assault centre, police, and the courts) may be counted multiple times. Information for each jurisdiction on the coverage of the survey is provided within each fact sheet.