Overrepresentation of Black gun violence victims

Black people represented 25% of all firearm homicide victims in 2022 despite accounting for roughly 4% of Canada’s population (Perreault, 2024). This disproportionality mirrors a decade of elevated homicide rates in urban centres, where firearm homicides cluster and where Black residents face the cumulative effects of economic marginalization, limited housing options, and sustained exposure to institutional neglect (Sharpe & Aqil, 2025). Neighbourhoods marked by systemic disinvestment, restrictive zoning, and persistent housing insecurity are more likely to experience repeated cycles of violence, as spatial inequality shapes both opportunity and vulnerability (Sampson, 2012; Wacquant, 2008).