By almost every measure, Toronto ended 2025 safer than it had been in years. Homicides fell to 45, down 47% from 85 in 2024 and the city’s lowest annual total in roughly four decades, and shootings, robberies, break-ins, assaults, and auto theft all declined as well. The one clear exception was theft over $5,000, which rose again and has climbed every year since 2021. These local numbers track a broader national decline reported by Statistics Canada, though how safe residents feel does not always align with what the police data show. This article sets out Toronto’s 2025 crime figures in full, compares the city to the rest of Canada and to other cities worldwide, breaks down where break-ins were concentrated, and explains what a falling crime rate does and does not mean if you are the one facing a charge.
Key Takeaways
- Toronto’s homicide count fell to 45 in 2025, down 47% from 85 in 2024 — the city’s lowest annual total in roughly 40 years.
- Statistics Canada’s July 2026 release shows Canada’s national homicide count fell to 672 in 2025, down 16% from 2024 — the largest year-over-year decline since 1986.
- Toronto’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) fell by 7% in 2025, outpacing the national CSI decline of 5% (to 75.01).
- Almost every major crime category in Toronto dropped in 2025 — shootings, robberies, break-ins, assaults, and auto theft all declined. The one exception was theft over $5,000, which rose 6% and has been rising every year since 2021.
- Numbeo’s current Safety Index rates Toronto at 56.35 (Crime Index 43.65) — a “High” safety rating, though Toronto does not currently place in Numbeo’s top 10 safest Canadian cities.
- Vilkhov Law offers up-to-date criminal defence services informed by current crime trends for those needing legal support in the Greater Toronto Area.
Is Toronto Dangerous? The 2025 Numbers in Context
The headline result from Statistics Canada’s July 2026 release is a broad-based decline. Nationally, the Crime Severity Index (CSI) — which weighs both the volume and seriousness of crime — fell 5% to a value of 75.01 in 2025, the second consecutive annual decrease. The conventional crime rate (Criminal Code incidents excluding traffic offences) fell 2% to 5,585 incidents per 100,000 population. Toronto outperformed the national trend: the city’s CSI fell 7%, and its conventional crime rate fell 5% in 2025, according to the same StatCan release.
Toronto’s own numbers tell a similarly positive story. According to the Toronto Police Service’s Major Crime Indicators and its final 2025 figures (as compiled and reported by Force Security in February 2026, updated July 2026), most major crime categories fell sharply compared to 2024:
| Category | 2025 | Change vs. 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides | 45 | –47% |
| Shootings | — | –43% |
| Robberies | — | –20% |
| Break & Enter | 6,092 | –11% |
| Assaults | — | –3% |
| Auto Theft | — | –24% |
| Theft Over $5,000 | — | +6% |
The 45 homicides recorded in 2025 mark Toronto’s lowest annual total in roughly 40 years, down from 85 in 2024. Theft over $5,000 was the only major category to increase, continuing a rise that has been building every year since 2021, driven largely by high-value electronics, vehicles, tools, and construction equipment.
How Toronto Compares Nationally
Canada’s national homicide count fell to 672 in 2025, down 125 from 2024, a 16% decrease and the largest year-over-year decline since 1986, according to Statistics Canada. Gang-related homicides also fell, from 155 in 2024 to 119 in 2025. Nationally, breaking and entering, the property crime with the largest weight in the CSI, was the single biggest contributor to the drop in the index, with the police-reported rate falling 11% to 264 incidents per 100,000 population, a decline recorded in every province and territory.
Toronto’s overall crime severity remains on the lower end nationally. Statistics Canada’s crime severity data by census metropolitan area consistently places Toronto’s CSI well below cities such as Winnipeg and Edmonton, both of which report higher per-capita crime severity linked in part to gang activity.
How Toronto Ranks Internationally
The most recent edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index (2024, the latest available; the index is published every two years) ranked Toronto the 6th safest major city in the world and the safest large metropolitan city in North America, out of 60 cities assessed across personal, health, infrastructure, digital, and environmental security.
By contrast, Numbeo’s Current Safety Index — a continuously updated, crowdsourced perception index currently rates Toronto at 56.35 (Safety) and 43.65 (Crime), placing it in the “High” safety band (60.01–80 is the top band; Toronto sits just below it). Notably, Toronto does not currently appear in Numbeo’s list of the 10 safest Canadian cities; that list is led by Quebec City, Burlington, Ottawa, Montreal, and Guelph. This reflects a gap between Toronto’s official police-reported statistics, which show broad improvement, and residents’ day-to-day perception of safety, which Numbeo’s survey-based index captures separately.
Break-Ins by Neighbourhood: Where Toronto Was Hit Hardest in 2025
Toronto Police reported 6,092 break-and-enter incidents in 2025, a citywide rate of 189.5 per 100,000 residents — about 17 break-ins every day. As with most types of crime, this was concentrated unevenly across the city. Based on Toronto Police Service open data, the neighbourhoods with the highest break-in rates per 100,000 residents in 2025 were:
- University — 730.28 per 100,000 (60 break-ins), nearly four times the city average.
- Yonge-Bay Corridor — 552.19 per 100,000 (92 break-ins), also the highest robbery rate and second-highest assault rate in the city.
- Rosedale-Moore Park — 455.61 per 100,000 (105 break-ins).
- Kensington-Chinatown — 442.96 per 100,000 (101 break-ins).
- Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills — 403.30 per 100,000 (47 break-ins).
The Annex, while seventh by rate, recorded the highest raw total in the city at 149 break-ins. The pattern is consistent: high-value residential neighbourhoods (Rosedale, Bridle Path, Princess-Rosethorn) and dense mixed-use downtown areas (University, Yonge-Bay Corridor, Kensington-Chinatown) account for most of the concentration.
How Many Homicides Does Canada See Each Year?
Statistics Canada tracks the annual number of homicides nationally and within major metropolitan areas through its Number and rate of homicide victims, by Census Metropolitan Areas dataset, cross-referenced here with Toronto Police Service figures. Recent totals for the country and for Toronto:
| Year | Canada (national) | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 672 | 45 |
| 2024 | 797* | 85 |
| 2023 | 778 | 73 |
| 2021 | 788 | 119 |
| 2020 | 743 | 105 |
*Statistics Canada revises the prior year’s homicide count with each new annual release. The 2025 release cites 797 as the revised 2024 comparison figure; the 2024 total as originally published in Homicide in Canada, 2024 (StatCan, December 2025) was 788. The 2020 figure (743) was, at the time, the highest national homicide count since 1991, per Statistics Canada.
For context, the national homicide rate stood at 1.91 per 100,000 population in 2024, per Statistics Canada; with the 2025 count down 16%, the rate has fallen further, continuing the retreat from the elevated levels of 2022–2023, which had been the highest in roughly 30 years.
Safety Measures and City Initiatives
The City of Toronto, in collaboration with the Toronto Police Service, continues to invest in measures to sustain these declines: increased patrols in historically higher-crime areas, surveillance technology, including CCTV and gunfire-detection systems, and community outreach and youth engagement programs to address the root causes of crime. Toronto Police leadership has pointed to frontline staffing levels, community officer programs, and closer collaboration with partner organizations as contributing factors in the sustained drop in violent crime.
What This Means If You Are Facing Charges
“Understanding the nuances of Toronto’s evolving crime landscape is crucial for both residents and legal professionals. At Vilkhov Law, we are committed to providing informed legal counsel that reflects the city’s dynamic safety environment.”
— Benson Wilson, Criminal Defence Lawyer, Vilkhov Law
A falling city-wide crime rate does not change what is at stake for any individual person facing a charge. If you or someone you know is dealing with a criminal matter in Toronto, Barrie, Innisfil, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, or elsewhere in the GTA, Vilkhov Law offers a free, confidential consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Toronto a dangerous city in 2026?
No. Toronto’s 2025 crime statistics show most major categories declining sharply, including a 47% drop in homicides to a roughly 40-year low. Toronto remains the safest large metropolitan city in North America according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index, and its Crime Severity Index sits well below the national average.
How many homicides were there in Toronto in 2025?
45, down 47% from 85 in 2024, the city’s lowest annual homicide total in roughly 40 years, according to Toronto Police Service figures.
What is Toronto’s crime rate compared to the rest of Canada?
Toronto’s Crime Severity Index fell 7% in 2025, outpacing the national decline of 5% (to a national CSI of 75.01). Toronto’s conventional crime rate fell 5% in 2025, compared to a 2% national decline, according to Statistics Canada’s July 2026 release.
What crime category is increasing in Toronto?
Theft over $5,000 was the only major crime category to rise in 2025, up 6% and climbing every year since 2021 — driven by high-value electronics, vehicles, and equipment.
How does Toronto rank globally for safety?
In the most recent Economist Intelligence Unit Safe Cities Index (2024, the latest published edition), Toronto ranked 6th safest among 60 major world cities and the safest large metropolitan city in North America.
Which Toronto neighbourhoods had the most break-ins in 2025?
University had the highest break-in rate at 730.28 per 100,000 residents, nearly four times the city average. The Annex had the highest total number of break-ins, with 149 reported incidents.
