Executive Summary
This report provides a national overview of available administrative data on Victim Impact Statements (VIS), Community Impact Statements (CIS), and Victim Statements across Canada’s justice system. These tools allow victims and communities to describe the impacts of crime and have those impacts considered in justice system decision-making. Together, they support victim participation in the justice system, including participatory rights under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (CVBR).
Developed in collaboration with federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) partners, this study draws on data from Statistics Canada’s Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS); federal corrections and conditional release data from Correctional Service Canada (CSC) and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC); and provincial and territorial administrative data from victim services, court services, Crown prosecution services, and review boards. Findings are descriptive and should not be interpreted as direct comparisons across jurisdictions, as definitions, coverage, and collection practices vary.
Key observations include:
- VIS were recorded in a minority of cases with a finding of guilt, increasing modestly from 5% in 2016/2017 to 8% in 2022/2023 among the five ICCS-reporting jurisdictions: Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories. VIS were proportionally more common in youth court than in adult criminal court cases in 2022/2023 (11% versus 8%) and across 2016/2017 to 2022/2023 (10% versus 6%).
- No jurisdictions currently report CIS data to the ICCS, and the survey does not capture whether VIS were presented in court.
- Beyond the ICCS, provincial and territorial administrative VIS data were available from eight jurisdictions, but measures and recording practices varied. Data on VIS in review board cases, CIS, and statement presentation were more limited.
- The number of Victim Statements in the federal corrections context remained relatively stable from 2019/2020 to 2023/2024, while presentations of Victim Statements at conditional release hearings increased.
- Statements were most often associated with violent offences, including assault, sexual assault, homicide, and intimate partner violence (IPV). In most cases with a recorded VIS, the victim knew the accused, often as a current or former intimate partner. Where gender information was available, recorded VIS and Victim Statements were most often associated with female victims, while data on Indigenous and racialized identity remained limited.
This report helps clarify what is currently known about VIS, CIS, and Victim Statements from available administrative data, and where important gaps remain. Differences in how these statements are collected and recorded limit comparability across jurisdictions. More consistent and comprehensive data, including disaggregated data on Indigenous and racialized identity where appropriate, would support a clearer understanding of access to these tools. Continued collaboration among FPT partners will be important for strengthening national data, supporting future research, and monitoring victims’ participatory rights under the CVBR.
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