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Table 3a
Police officers and crime rates in census metropolitan areas (CMAs)

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Census metropolitan areas (CMA) 2006 population1 2007 number of police officers2 Police officers per 100,000 population3 Population per officer3 2006 crime rate4 % change in rate 1997 to 2007
number percentage
Thunder Bay 123,105 261 212 472 9,031 12.5
Saint John5 98,657 198 201 498 7,885 10.0
Winnipeg6 726,138 1,368 188 531 11,085 2.4
Montréal 3,706,698 6,837 184 542 6,912 5.5
Regina 200,447 361 180 555 12,415 9.9
Windsor 333,706 596 179 560 6,754 7.0
Toronto 5,418,989 9,483 175 571 5,020 9.8
Halifax6 382,203 663 173 576 8,715 3.5
Saskatoon 244,619 420 172 582 12,209 22.0
St. Catharines-Niagara 435,125 697 160 624 5,963 22.9
Edmonton 1,059,826 1,666 157 636 10,079 12.0
Calgary 1,108,907 1,696 153 654 6,954 11.1
St. John’s 180,543 276 153 654 6,773 3.8
Greater Sudbury 161,821 247 153 655 6,219 13.2
Victoria 338,570 510 151 664 10,066 -1.2
Sherbrooke 148,102 222 150 667 5,491 26.8
Vancouver6 2,181,591 3,236 148 674 10,609 4.8
Trois-Rivières 145,611 215 148 677 4,792 0.7
Hamilton 701,691 1,032 147 680 5,602 4.6
Abbotsford 164,947 242 147 682 11,224 ..
Kitchener 491,635 715 145 688 5,315 21.7
London 473,364 688 145 688 8,137 21.3
Ottawa7 884,765 1,282 145 690 5,775 16.1
Gatineau8 290,392 415 143 700 5,645 -7.6
Kingston 153,584 219 143 701 6,737 ..
Québec 726,227 1,014 140 716 4,931 7.4
Saguenay 145,321 179 123 812 4,038 7.6
.. not available for a specific reference period
  1. Populations are based on July 1st preliminary postcensal estimates for 2006 (based on 2006 Census boundaries), Statistics Canada, Demography Division but are adjusted to follow policing boundaries. 2007 populations for CMAs are not yet available.
  2. Represents actual police officer strength as of May 15th, 2007.
  3. Based on the number of police officers in 2007 and CMA populations for 2006. CMA populations for 2007 are not yet available.
  4. Crime rate represents the number of Criminal Code incidents (excluding traffic) per 100,000 population. Crime data for 2007 were not available at the time of publication.
  5. Since 2005, the Hampton police service is no longer included in the CMA population for Saint John, resulting in a higher rate of police strength than in past years.
  6. Police officer counts include officers deployed to contract positions (e.g. airport, port, U.N. mission).
  7. Represents the Ontario portion of the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA.
  8. Represents the Quebec portion of the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA.
Note: The numbers in this table will not agree with the numbers in Part 2 of this report (which report data at the level of individual police services) because most CMAs are policed by more than one police service. The CMA of Oshawa is not included due to differences in policing jurisdiction and CMA boundaries. Crimes investigated by RCMP federal personnel within CMAs are included; however police officer counts do not include RCMP federal police officers. While the CMA table should be used to compare major metropolitan areas, table 3b presents the actual police strength of the major police forces in Canada.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Police Administration Survey and Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
Date Modified: 2009-08-21

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