Crime in Canada: Four-in-five report fraud attempts; 30% say money or personal info taken
ONTARIO – As the federal Liberal government proposes changes to the country’s criminal justice system aimed at concerns over violent repeat offenders, Canadians are expressing a growing concern about rising crime in their own individual communities.
Some of the most common crimes facing Canadians, however, are fraud.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, the first in a series examining crime in Canada, finds three-in-five (62 per cent) believe that over the last five years, crime has been rising in the communities where they live.
It’s a proportion that far outnumbers those who say there’s been no change (24%) or a decrease (5%).
And among the most widespread crimes – at least attempted – are fraud and identity theft, which appear to be increasing in frequency and targeting nearly everyone.
More than four-in-five Canadians say they have been the target of an online or phone scam over the past two years. For 30% of the population this has resulted in the loss of information or money.
Canadians lost more than $638 million in reported fraud cases in 2024, although only five to 10% of such cases are thought to be reported to authorities.
That means that while 13% of Canadians have been involved in a police-reported crime during this two-year period, more than one-in-three (36%) have been victims of a crime if expanded to include this rampant fraud.
