Toronto and GTHA stabbings: by the numbers

Mar 11, 2014 | News

By Victoria Quiroz

Early Tuesday morning a man was found by emergency crews in the Dundas Street East and George Street area, suffering from abdominal stab wounds.

According to recently updated statistics from Toronto Police Services, in March of 2013 there had only been three stabbing-related homicides. As of March 11 this year the number has already risen to four in Toronto plus one more in the GTHA.

However according to a graph of Toronto homicides in the past 25 years, it would appear stabbing rates are actually decreasing.

The graph, created by the Toronto Star, depicts the amount of stabbing-related deaths year by year since 1990. From 1990-1998, stabbing deaths hovered around the high teens and to middle twenties, with a spike of 26 deaths in 1991.

In between 1999 to 2007 stabbing deaths in Toronto stayed beneath 20 per year. 2011 and 2012 had Toronto’s lowest amount of stabbing deaths, with 7 and 8, respectively.

However in 2013 the GTA’s number of stabbing homicides doubled to 16. And now, in March, Toronto is close to having almost double the amount of stabbing homicides as they had in March of 2013.

Below is a detailed map of all stabbing-related homicides and many non-fatal stabbings in Toronto and the GTHA in 2013 and 2014.