Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay, Ont., has highest homicide rate in Canada again

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Nationwide, the homicide rate dropped four per cent

According to a Statistics Canada report released Monday, the northwestern Ontario city of Thunder Bay recorded the highest homicide rate in the country in 2016. (Tony Webster, Flickr cc)

Thunder Bay once again has the highest homicide rate in Canada, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

There were eight homicides in the city in 2018, up from seven in 2017, putting the homicide rate at 6.38 per 100,000 people. Brantford, Ont., had the second highest rate at 3.36 per 100,000 people.

Nationwide, the homicide rate actually dropped four per cent, according to Stats Can.

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However, Ontario reported the largest year-over-year increase in homicides and the highest overall number since data collection began in 1961.

That's largely due to several mass murders in the Toronto area, including a van attack in North York and a shooting on Danforth Avenue.

Toronto's homicide rate grew by 50 per cent and 49 murders last year.