Safety
Crime has increased overall in recent years. Opioid deaths have decreased slightly in 2022 and 2023, after huge increases over the last decade. Because half of the city’s supervised consumption sites are being shut down in 2025, more Torontonians are likely to die from opioid-related deaths.
Crime has increased in recent years, driven largely by auto thefts.
- Major crime levels increased in 2022 and 2023, after being down during the first two years of the pandemic, driven in large part by a massive upsurge in auto theft.xxvii
- When excluding auto theft and adjusting for population growth, major crimes were still 15% higher in 2023 than in 2014.xxviii
Deaths from opioids have decreased slightly, while the planned closure of supervised consumption will likely lead to more residents dying.
- More than 500 people have died from opioid toxicity in each of the last four years, up substantially from only 137 in 2015, but deaths are down by more than 10% in both 2022 and 2023 from the peak in 2021.xxix
- In 2023, there were 494 overdoses at City-run supervised consumption sites, making it likely that there will be more opioid-related deaths when the province closes five of Toronto’s supervised consumption sites by March 2025.xxx
- An analysis by CTV found that many categories of crimes had decreased in neighbourhoods with supervised consumption sites versus the rest of the city between 2018 and 2023.xxxi
ENDNOTES:
Infographics:
1. Toronto Overdose Information System. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/tphseu/viz/TOISDashboard_Final/ParamedicResponse
2. Toronto Overdose Information System, Monthly Visits to supervised consumption services where overdoes occurred. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/tphseu/viz/TOISDashboard_Final/ParamedicResponse
Data:
- xxvii Toronto Police Service, Major Crimes Indicators Historical, https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMGQyZGFlYTEtZjdiOS00M2VmLWI5NGQtYTI5N2UwNDUyODg3IiwidCI6Ijg1MjljMjI1LWFjNDMtNDc0Yy04ZmI0LTBmNDA5NWFlOGQ1ZCIsImMiOjN9
- xxviii In 2014, there were 32,461 major crimes, including 3,628 auto thefts. The city’s population was 2,788,656, meaning there 1,164 major crimes per 100,000 and 1,034 crimes per 100,000 when excluding auto thefts.
In 2023, there were 49,359 major crimes, including 12,302 auto thefts. The city’s population was 3,110,94, meaning there were 1,587 crimes per 100,000 and 1,191 crimes per 100,000 when excluding auto thefts. This corresponds to a 15% increase in the rate of major crimes per 100,00 between 2014 and 2023 when excluding auto thefts. - xxix Toronto Overdose Information System. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/tphseu/viz/TOISDashboard_Final/ParamedicResponse
- xxx Toronto Overdose Information System, Monthly Visits to supervised consumption services where overdoes occurred. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/tphseu/viz/TOISDashboard_Final/ParamedicResponse
- xxxi Source: Woodward, Jon. (2024, August 27). Toronto neighbourhoods with drug consumption sites saw many types of crime drop: data. CTV News. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-neighbourhoods-with-drug-consumption-sites-saw-many-types-of-crime-drop-data-1.7015700