Canada's crime rate drops

Canadian police services reported nearly 2 million criminal incidents in 2012, a three percent drop from 2011, or 36,000 fewer than in the previous year, Statistics Canada reported.

The crime rate is the lowest since 1972, the report said Thursday.

The drop in the crime rate was due to decreases in non-violent crimes, reported Xinhua.

Among major urban centers, the Greater Toronto Area, home to about 6 million people, reported a seven percent decrease in its police-reported crime rate in 2012 and had the lowest crime rate in Canada for the sixth consecutive year.

Kelowna in the western province of British Columbia with a population of about 185,000 experienced a 6 percent surge in its crime rate and had the country's highest crime rate in 2012.

Canadian police services also reported just over 415,000 violence incidents last year, a decrease of 9,000 from 2011, said Statistics Canada. In 2012, Canada's violent crime rate fell by 3 percent to its lowest level since 1987.

In 2012, police reported 543 homicides, or 55 fewer than in 2011. Canada's homicide rate of 1.56 homicides per 100,000 people was the lowest since 1966.

Statistics Canada said that beyond homicides, the police-reported crime rate fell for most violent crimes, particularly major sexual assault, robbery, and assault on a peace officer.

There were also more terrorism-related incidents last year -- an increase by 55 compared to 2011. Statistics Canada reported that the increase was mainly the result of "an unusually high number of hoax terrorism incidents", most of which occurred in Quebec during the student demonstrations in the spring of 2012.