Statistics Canada Reports Firearm-Related Intimate Partner Violence Rose 58 Percent Since 2010-2014 While Spousal Cases Declined

Statistics Canada released new research Wednesday showing the average annual rate of intimate partner violence involving a firearm rose 58 percent between 2020 and 2024 compared with the rate from 2010 to 2014. Cbc reported that 85 percent of victims were women and girls aged 12 and over.

Firearm-related intimate partner violence is five times more likely to be lethal than incidents without firearms, according to Public Safety Canada.

Shooting caused one in five intimate partner homicides between 2009 and 2024, the second most common method after stabbing. Rates were highest among victims aged 18 to 24. Incidents between current spouses declined over the period studied, while those involving dating partners increased.

Rates outside cities were nearly three times higher than in urban areas between 2020 and 2024, with Regina showing a higher rate than rural areas. Among provinces, rates were highest in the territories and the Prairies. Handguns have recently overtaken rifles or shotguns as the most common weapon in these incidents.

Two-thirds of the 923 people accused in 2024 firearm-related intimate partner violence cases had prior criminal accusations in the previous six years, and 36 percent had previous intimate partner violence accusations. In shooting homicides, police knew of prior violence in 44 percent of cases. In non-shooting intimate partner homicides, the figure was 60 percent.

Seven percent of shooting victims and 14 percent of other homicide victims were under protection orders when killed. In 2023 the federal government amended firearms laws to allow emergency prohibition orders. Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Battered Women's Support Services in Vancouver, said the most dangerous time is during or immediately after separation.