Sex assaults, hate crimes increase in Montreal in 2024, while firearm offences and vehicle thefts drop

Sexual assaults, robberies and hate crimes all went up in Montreal in 2024, while motor vehicle thefts, firearm offences and attempted murders dropped significantly.

That’s according to Montreal police’s annual review, released Monday.

It shows an overall upward trend in crimes against people (7.3 per cent) and crimes against property (0.4 per cent). Both are significant increases over the five-year averages.

Crimes against people

The number of crimes against people in Montreal has risen every year since 2020.

The offence that contributed most to that increase in 2024 was assaults, up 6.8 per cent from the previous year and 29.1 per cent over the five-year average.

“This increase is mainly related to level-1 assaults, that is, incidents leading to little or no injury to the victim, as this is the subcategory of assaults most frequently reported to the SPVM,” the police force explained in the review.

Sexual assaults increased 8.5 per cent, with the SPVM saying it’s mainly related to the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and sexual contact. Authorities conceded it’s “always difficult” to interpret those figures because sex assaults are among the offences least reported to police.

When it comes to intimate partner violence, the SPVM responded to 13,880 calls and recorded 6,937 incidents of domestic violence. This represents 21 per cent of all crimes against persons reported on the territory of Montreal during the year.

Robberies were up slightly, by 2.8 per cent, but that’s a 32.6 per cent increase on the five-year average.

“This increase, which began in 2023, can be attributed mainly to robberies from stores and individuals, and to extortion attempts against certain retailers in 2024,” the SPVM said.

Police say they also recorded an increase in incidents of criminal harassment and uttering threats.

Attempted murders were down significantly; there were 84 in 2024 compared to 110 in 2023 – a 23.6 per cent drop. That’s down 30.2 per cent over the five-year average.

Crimes against property

Fraud (11.2 per cent), mischief (8.8 per cent) and petty larceny (6.6 per cent) were all up compared to 2023 and the five-year average.

The SPVM says inflation may have played a role in the increase in petty larceny, which includes purse snatching, pickpocketing and shoplifting.

“The rise in the cost of living and financial uncertainty may have encouraged some people to commit thefts,” the SPVM wrote.

The increase in frauds reported can be attributed mainly to more incidents of card fraud and computer fraud, police say.

Though all crimes against property in 2024 were higher than the five-year average, some categories saw a drop from 2023.

Motor vehicle thefts were down 25 per cent – from 11,756 to 8,812 – the first decline since the repeated and steep increase observed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Firearm offences were down 12.9 per cent. One-third of the 31 homicides and 84 attempted murders in 2024 involved the presence or use of a firearm. In 2022, firearms were in half of the homicides and 60 per cent of the attempted murders, for comparison.

“Although armed violence is still present in the Montreal landscape, it is contributing less to the current portrait than it did in recent years,” police said.

There were 501 arsons in 2024, down 6.9 per cent from 2023.

“Criminal groups are suspected of being behind some of these arsons in the context of extortion attempts mainly targeting businesses,” according to the SPVM.

Breaking and entering decreased 2.8 per cent, mainly due to fewer break and enters at private homes.

Hate crimes

In 2024, Montrealers reported 375 hate crimes and 202 hate incidents, which represents a 6.2 per cent and 18.1 per cent rise, respectively.

Hate crimes and incidents involving a person’s ethnicity, national origin, skin colour and sex went up, while those targeting a person’s sexual orientation dropped.

“Analyzing hate incidents and crimes is always a sensitive exercise, since it is influenced by many factors, including the global situation and international conflicts,” the SPVM wrote.

The Montreal police’s annual review showed impaired driving was down 3.2 per cent compared to 2023, and impaired driving causing bodily harm declined 21.7 per cent.

It also revealed police response times keep increasing slightly. The average response time – from the initial call to officers arriving on scene – was six minutes and 36 seconds in 2024. That’s up 13 seconds from 2023.