Many Canadians tend to romanticize rural and remote Canada. Fewer than one in five Canadians live outside our cities clustered close to the American border. Those of us who live in the cities may tend to think of rural Canada as relatively crime free. The idea of the cities as crime ridden and rural and remote regions as relatively crime free is, alas, dead wrong in Canada.

In 2023, crime reported to the police was 34 percent higher in rural than urban areas, a consistent trend over the past decade. The crime reported to the police in rural Canada is much more likely to involve violence and guns than that reported in the southern cities. Violence against women is reported to the police in rural Canada at twice the rate as in the cities. Most homicides occur in the cities, but the per capita homicide rate is significantly higher in rural areas, especially remote northern areas.