Society

A sense of personal and community safety is essential to a high quality of life. Physical, psychological, and financial effects of crime reduce levels of trust within a society and therefore have an impact on social cohesion. Breakdown in social cohesion is thus measured most directly by assessing levels of crime.

The Conference Board ranking analyzes statistics on crime against people (homicide and assault rates) and against property (burglary rates). Both forms of crime can have a major impact on the well-being of victims and on the wider society.

Other costs include the provision of law enforcement and correctional services. According to Statistics Canada, federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments in Canada, for example, spent more than $12 billion on policing, courts, legal aid, prosecutions, and adult corrections in 2002–2003.¹ Reducing crime would free up funds for other areas that could enhance prosperity and competitiveness, such as education and skills training, the environment, or advancements in innovation and technology.

Canada’s homicide rate is 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people. This rate is four times that of the best performer, Japan. Canadians may take comfort in the fact that Canada’s homicide rate is drastically lower than that of the U.S. (6.2 deaths), but Canada’s “A” grade is distorted by that country's extraordinarily high homicide rate.

All peer countries except Finland and the U.S. earn “A”s on this indicator. To put Canada’s relative performance in perspective, 13 of Canada’s peer countries have lower homicide rates than Canada.

If the U.S. were removed from the analysis, three of the peer countries—including Canada—would lose their “A” grades. Canada would earn a “C,” which is perhaps a fairer assessment of Canada’s relative performance.

Canada’s homicide rate has been declining since the mid-1970s, from a peak of 2.7 deaths in 1975 to 1.6 deaths in 2004. Most peer countries have also experienced a decrease in their homicide rates.

Perceptions of crime levels in Canadian communities are also better today than they were over a decade ago. A 2007 poll by Ipsos-Reid found that fewer Canadians now “perceive an increase in the level of crime in the last five years.” Less than half of the respondents perceived “great” or “moderate” increases in crime in their communities in the last five years, compared to seven in ten Canadians in 1994.²

Use the pull-down menu to compare the change in Canada’s homicide rate with that of its peers.

With the U.S. distortion, all the peer countries—except Finland—have received “A” grades for the past five decades.

A more nuanced picture is obtained if the U.S. is removed from the picture. Only Ireland remains a consistent “A” performer over the past five decades. Australia becomes a consistent “C” performer, while Canada’s average relative grade drops to a “C” for four of the five decades.

With the U.S. out of the ranking, Finland becomes the only “D” performer. Finland has had an exceptionally high homicide rate relative to other western European countries for most of the 20^th century. In 2001, the National Research Institute of Legal Policy in Helsinki brought together a number of intellectuals to study common historical and social trends and ultimately to determine the root causes of Finland’s high homicide rate. The following are just a few of the facts and conclusions that emerged:

• Although Finland’s homicide rate is high, it has increased at a lesser rate than that of other Scandinavian countries since 1955.
• The rate of infanticide—the murder of children under the age of one-year-old—has decreased since 1960, something that the researchers partially attribute to changes in welfare policy.
• Alcohol consumption has historically been problematic in Finland and is linked to increased incidents of violent crime, including assaults and homicides.
• The severity of sentencing had little impact on homicide rates in the latter half of the 20^th century.³

Although many still believe that “cracking down on crime” is the best way to protect communities, a recent Conference Board report found that other forms of crime prevention produce better results. In particular, approaches that address the root causes of crime are proving to be the most successful. An analysis of successful programs in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. yielded the following recommendations:

• Begin with an understanding of the community and its problems.
• Develop programs and policies to deal with these problems in their community context, and focus on crime reduction.
• Learn from and build on successful prevention programs developed elsewhere.
• Stay focused—prevention programs will not succeed without a great deal of effort.
• Secure commitment from senior government officials.
• Provide adequate resources.
• Ensure cooperation and coordination among organizations targeting crime reduction.
• Take a comprehensive approach to prevention and develop multi-faceted strategies.

Learn more about crime reduction programs:

Making Communities Safer: Lessons Learned Combatting Auto Theft in Winnipeg, Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2008.

¹ Statistics Canada, “Crime and Justice,” Canada Year Book 2007. Website content. (cited September 12, 2009).

² Ipsos News Center, “Canadians Perceive Crime Increases to Be Less Acute in Their Communities,” June 11, 2007, [online, cited August 31, 2009]

³Tapio Lappi-Sappalla, Homicide in Finland: Trends and Patterns in Historical and Comparative Perspective, (Helsinki: National Research Institute of Legal Policy, 2001), p. 8, [online, cited August 31, 2009].