The amount of firearm-related violent crime per 100,000 population in 2022 in the Belleville Census Metropolitan Area remains well below that of both Ontario and Canada.
In a report published Tuesday, Statistics Canada says Ontario’s rate per 100,000 population of firearm-related crime was 32.1 while nationwide it was 36.7. Both figures were increases from 2021 and are the highest since the data started being compiled in 2009.
In the Belleville Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) which includes Belleville, Quinte West, Stirling-Rawdon and Tyendinaga-Deseronto the rate was 21.4.
That rate was virtually unchanged from 2021, however, it was higher than either Kingston or Peterborough’s rate per 100,000. Kingston’s rate was around 17 and Peterborough’s near 19.
The actual number of firearms-related incidents in the Belleville CMA was 25. The area is policed by both the Belleville Police Service and the OPP.
Not surprisingly, the rates of firearm-related violent crime are much higher in larger cities with Toronto’s rate being 43.2.
In Toronto there were 2,576 firearms-related incidents in 2022. Handguns are used much more often than shotguns or rifles.
See the entire report here.
