Number of Canadian police shootings in 2021 remains too high, experts say

This year, the number of police shootings has so far matched the total from 2020, when 60 people were shot and 36 of those were killed.

Despite growing calls for changes in policing, the number of officer shootings in Canada remains too high, say criminology experts.

On-duty police officers fired at 64 people in Canada between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30. Exactly half were killed. Seven were uninjured.

“I am deeply concerned by the unrelenting nature of this problem. There is nothing inevitable or natural about this problem,” said Temitope Oriola, a criminology professor at the University of Alberta and a former special adviser to the province in a review of its Police Act.

The Canadian Press tracked each shooting using information from police, independent investigative units and independent reporting. The resulting snapshot shows little has changed since 2020, when global movements called for more police accountability and transparency.

This year, the number of police shootings has so far matched the total from 2020, when 60 people were shot and 36 of those were killed. That year, five shootings were in December and the youngest was a one-year-old boy killed in Ontario.

There have been at least three deadly shootings this month, which have not been included in The Canadian Press tally.

In 2021, young men continued to make up the vast majority of people shot by police.

There was also a disproportionate number of people of colour. Race could be identified in 17 shootings. More than 50 per cent involved Indigenous people and 17 per cent were Black.