Bill C-14, which toughens bail and sentencing rules, came into force last week. The legislation targets repeat and violent offenders in cases such as car thefts, breaking and entering and extortion.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Crime rates fell across the country in 2025, according to a Statistics Canada report released this week, prompting questions from some criminologists about the need for bail reform legislation, which was recently implemented to address public concerns about crime.
The federal agency’s national crime severity index, which measures the volume and severity of crime per 100,000 people, fell by five per cent last year, from 79 in 2024 to 75 in 2025, marking the second consecutive annual dip.
Those rates also have fallen for the majority of provinces and territories. Only Nunavut and New Brunswick saw increases in 2025, with the former seeing a 10-per-cent rise and the latter six per cent.
Both violent and non-violent crimes in Canada declined last year. Homicides and motor vehicle theft fell by 16 per cent each, while breaking-and-entering crimes declined by 11 per cent.
Despite the dropping numbers, political and public pressure to address violent crime has grown over several years, culminating in the federal Liberal government passing legislation to reform bail rules and toughen the Criminal Code. Calls for action have come from all levels of government and across party lines, following a series of violent incidents involving assaults and home invasions.
One of the most contentious areas has been the rules around bail, which police and premiers have said act like a revolving door for repeat offenders. Bail denials in Ontario last year spiked to their highest level since 2018, and have more than doubled over the last two years.
But experts say the federal government’s efforts to improve safety through stricter laws won’t reduce crime levels in the long term because it won’t deter criminals.
Anthony Doob, a professor emeritus of criminology at the University of Toronto, said he questions the need for bail reform when statistics show crime rates went down.
Ottawa is incorrectly correlating crime levels with the level of punishment in the criminal justice system, he said. Prof Doob called the new policies “cheap politics.”
“Criminals are not planning on getting caught in the first place. So the penalty that they might get isn’t really figuring in their decision as to whether they are committing offences or not,” he said in an interview.
Prof. Doob said he can’t point to why crime rates have decreased in 2025, but noted that trends frequently correlate with socio-economic status and social policies, such as health care and education access.
Since forming government last year, the federal Liberals have passed three bills targeting criminal justice reforms.
Bill C-14, which toughens bail and sentencing rules, came into force last week. The legislation targets repeat and violent offenders in cases such as car thefts, breaking and entering and extortion.
The federal government has also passed laws adding harsher penalties for serious sexual offences and mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.
The StatsCan numbers are good news for Canadians, but there’s still more work to do, said Jeanne Joannie Fogue Mgamgne, spokesperson for Justice Minister Sean Fraser.
“As threats evolve, we will keep working with our partners and moving with urgency to strengthen Canada’s laws and keep Canadians safe,” Ms. Fogue Mgamgne said.
Toronto was among the Canadian cities with falling crime rates in 2025. Total crimes against a person dropped by 5.2 per cent, from 33,149 in 2024 to 31, 414 in 2025, ending a five years of consecutive increases, according to the Toronto Police Service 2025 Annual Statistical Report.
Homicides decreased by 47 per cent last year, from 85 in 2024 to 45 in 2025. However attempted murder rose by 19.5 per cent, from 41 to 49.
Robberies fell by 21.9 per cent, from 2,553 in 2024 to 1,995 in 2025.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw, speaking before the Toronto Police Service Board on Thursday, said “while the trend is downwards, one shooting is too many.”
Mr. Demkiw said Toronto residents should be able to walk around the city without fear of indiscriminate gunfire. A July 11 Toronto festival shooting reignited calls for stricter penalties to deter gang and gun violence.
The incident at the Salsa on St. Clair street festival killed two men and injured five others, including bystanders, shutting down the festival. On Friday, in the city’s west end, a woman was fatally shot and a suspect was arrested.
TPS spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said declining crime rates and bail reform are not contradictory, and focused on repeat offenders and those with firearm offences.
“It’s about ensuring that individuals who pose a significant risk to public safety are not repeatedly released while facing serious violent charges.” she said in an e-mail.
Catherine Latimer, a criminologist and executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, said the lower crime rates in 2025 validates the concern that there is no evidence to justify that tough penalties and bail reforms will curb crime.
“What you’re getting is an erosion of fundamental criminal justice principles,” she said in an interview, referring to Charter rights such as reasonable bail and presumption of innocence.
“If your country is punishing people who have not been convicted of an offence, you’re outside of fundamental principles. It’s not a good idea.”