Fact sheet: New Brunswick

Victims of police-reported violent crime in New Brunswick, 2023

In 2023, police services in New Brunswick reported 11,812 victims of violent crime and traffic offences causing death or bodily harm (Table 5.1). This represented 1,427 victims per 100,000 population, which was higher than the national rate (1,207 per 100,000).^{Footnote 38}
Most (82%) victims were adults aged 18 years and older;^{Footnote 39} 42% of all victims were aged 25 to 44 years, representing the largest proportion of any age group (Table 5.1). Meanwhile, 13% of victims were youth aged 12 to 17 years, and 5% were children 11 years and younger. The rate of victims was highest among youth aged 12 to 17 years (3,005 per 100,000 population), followed by young adults aged 18 to 24 years (2,672 per 100,000) and adults aged 25 to 44 years (2,425 per 100,000).^{Footnote 40}
Most (58%) victims of police-reported violent crime in 2023 were victims of assault.^{Footnote 41} Assault victims accounted for six in ten (61%) adult victims aged 18 years and older, and close to half (45%) of the child and youth victims aged 17 years and younger.
The second most commonly reported offence was “other violent violations” which accounted for one-third of victims (33%).^{Footnote 42} This category includes offences such as robbery, extortion, and uttering threats, among other violent crimes.
Overall, 6% of police-reported victims of violent crime in New Brunswick in 2023 were victims of sexual assault. More than half (54%) of sexual assault victims were adults aged 18 years and older, and almost one-third (32%) of sexual assault victims were youth aged 12 to 17 years. A small number (15%) were children aged 11 years and younger (Table 5.1).
The majority (58%) of victims of sexual violations against children were youth aged 12 to 17 years, and 42% were children aged 11 years and younger (Table 5.1).
While just over half (52%) of police-reported victims were female, they represented much larger proportions of victims of sexual assault (83%) and sexual violations against children (82%) (Table 5.2).
Most (68%) of victims of homicide, attempted murder and other violations causing death were male, as well as more than half (52%) of victims of traffic violations causing death or bodily harm (Table 5.2).
Male and female victims of police-reported sexual assault differed by age, although the difference was not large. More than half (55%) of female sexual assault victims were adults aged 18 years and older, while half (50%) of male sexual assault victims were adults.^{Footnote 43}
Compared to female victims, sexual offences were less common among male children and youth aged 17 years and younger, as 7% were victims of sexual assault and 4% were victims of sexual violations against children (26% and 14%, respectively, among female victims).^{Footnote 44} However, assault was more commonly reported among male child and youth victims (57%) than female child and youth victims (34%).

Victim services in New Brunswick

New Brunswick’s Department of Justice and Public Safety Victim Services delivers system-based services for victims of crime from 11 offices throughout the province. This includes support throughout the criminal justice process, including court proceedings, referrals for court support and short-term counselling, assistance with Victim Impact Statements, and provision of Compensation for Victims of Crime. Additional specialized services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are funded by the Women’s Equality Branch and delivered through community-based organizations, including Domestic Violence Outreach services, Indigenous Domestic Violence Outreach services, and Sexual Violence New Brunswick (SVNB). Furthermore, police-based victim services operate out of the Fredericton Police Force, Saint John Police Force, and the Codiac RCMP (Moncton).

The information provided below is limited to data on victims of police-reported incidents referred to the provincial Victim Services Program through police, Crown prosecutors, courts, and other organizations, as well as victims seeking assistance from the program directly.

In 2023, the New Brunswick Victim Services Program assisted 6,161 primary and 117 secondary newly referred victims of crime.
Children and youth accounted for 9% of victims assisted by the program. Just under one fifth of victims served (19%) were between the ages of 31 to 40 years.
Over half (55%) of victims served were female; 45% were male.
Despite making up only 2% of New Brunswick’s total population, Indigenous individuals represented 5% of victims receiving provincial services. A majority (92%) of clients were white.
Of victims who received services from the Victim Services Program, 56% were victims of violent crime. Over one-quarter (27%) were victims of physical assault, and 2% were victims of sexual assault. Another 9% were victims of various other sexual offences, including 462 victims of “sexual violations” in which no charges were laid in court, and 100 victims of specific sexual violations against children. Approximately 40% of victims served were victims of a non-violent offence such as theft or break and enter. Another 124 individuals who received assistance were victims of traffic offences.
In 2023, New Brunswick Victim Services provided 2,768 Victim Impact Statement forms to victims upon request. Of the VIS forms requested, 760 Victim Impact Statements were completed and submitted to court services and 1,995 victims declined to complete.

Detailed data tables

Table 5.1: Number and percentage of victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023

Table 5.1: Number and percentage of victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023
Type of violation	Total victims, all ages		Child and youth victims				Adult victims
	Total victims, all ages		11 years and younger		12 to 17 years		18 to 24 years		25 to 44 years		45 to 64 years		65 years and older
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Homicide, other violations causing death, and attempted murder	22	100%	1	4.5%	1	4.5%	1	4.5%	13	59.1%	6	27.3%	0	0
Sexual assaults	763	100%	109	14.3%	245	32.1%	132	17.3%	186	24.4%	68	8.9%	23	3.0%
Sexual violations against children	189	100%	80	42.3%	109	57.7%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assaults	6,907	100%	260	3.8%	699	10.1%	1,041	15.1%	3,107	45.0%	1,445	20.9%	350	5.1%
Other violent violations	3,885	100%	116	3.0%	489	12.6%	537	13.8%	1,574	40.5%	906	23.3%	262	6.7%
Criminal Code traffic violations causing death or bodily harm	46	100%	2	4.3%	6	13.0%	7	15.2%	17	37.0%	11	23.9%	3	6.5%
Total violent violations	11,812	100%	568	4.8%	1,549	13.1%	1,718	14.6%	4,897	41.5%	2,436	20.6%	638	5.4%
Table 5.1 footnotes Notes of table 5.1 Notes: Sexual violations against children include historical cases reported by victims as adults. Percentages were calculated by excluding victims whose age was unknown from the total number of victims in the denominator. Please use caution when interpreting findings for categories with less than 10 victims. Source of table 5.1 Source: Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Table 5.2: Number and percentage of victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and sex, New Brunswick, 2023

Table 5.2: Number and percentage of victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and sex, New Brunswick, 2023
Type of violation	Total victims		Female victims		Male victims
Type of violation	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Homicide, other violations causing death, and attempted murder	22	100%	7	31.8%	15	68.2%
Sexual assaults	763	100%	627	82.7%	131	17.3%
Sexual violations against children	189	100%	154	81.5%	35	18.5%
Assaults	6,907	100%	3,264	47.6%	3,590	52.4%
Other violent violations	3,885	100%	2,041	52.9%	1,817	47.1%
Criminal Code traffic violations causing death or bodily harm	46	100%	25	54.3%	21	45.7%
Total violent violations	11,812	100%	6,118	52.2%	5,609	47.8%
Table 5.2 footnotes Notes of table 5.2 Notes: Sexual violations against children include historical cases reported by victims as adults. Percentages were calculated by excluding victims whose age was unknown from the total number of victims in the denominator. Please use caution when interpreting findings for categories with less than 10 victims. Source of table 5.2 Source: Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Table 5.3: Number and percentage of female victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023

Table 5.3: Number and percentage of female victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023
Type of violation	Female victims, all ages		Female child and youth victims				Female adult victims
	Female victims, all ages		11 years and younger		12 to 17 years		18 to 24 years		25 to 44 years		45 to 64 years		65 years and older
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Homicide, other violations causing death, and attempted murder	7	100%	0	0	1	14.3%	0	0	4	57.1%	2	28.6%	0	0
Sexual assaults	627	100%	69	11.0%	215	34.3%	118	18.8%	157	25.0%	52	8.3%	16	2.6%
Sexual violations against children	154	100%	65	42.2%	89	57.8%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assaults	3,264	100%	90	2.8%	286	8.8%	537	16.5%	1,575	48.3%	640	19.6%	134	4.1%
Other violent violations	2,041	100%	51	2.5%	235	11.5%	321	15.7%	880	43.1%	446	21.9%	107	5.2%
Criminal Code traffic violations causing death or bodily harm	25	100%	1	4.0%	3	12.0%	4	16.0%	9	36.0%	7	28.0%	1	4.0%
Total violent violations	6,118	100%	276	4.5%	829	13.6%	980	16.0%	2,625	42.9%	1,147	18.8%	258	4.2%
Table 5.3 footnotes Notes of table 5.3 Notes: Sexual violations against children include historical cases reported by victims as adults. Percentages were calculated by excluding victims whose age was unknown from the total number of victims in the denominator. Please use caution when interpreting findings for categories with less than 10 victims. Source of table 5.3 Source: Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Table 5.4: Number and percentage of male victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023

Table 5.4: Number and percentage of male victims of police-reported violent crime and traffic violations causing death or bodily harm, by type of violation and age group, New Brunswick, 2023
Type of violation	Male victims, all ages		Male child and youth victims				Male adult victims
	Male victims, all ages		11 years and younger		12 to 17 years		18 to 24 years		25 to 44 years		45 to 64 years		65 years and older
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Homicide, other violations causing death, and attempted murder	15	100%	1	6.7%	0	0	1	6.7%	9	60.0%	4	26.7%	0	0
Sexual assaults	131	100%	37	28.2%	29	22.1%	14	10.7%	28	21.4%	16	12.2%	7	5.3%
Sexual violations against children	35	100%	15	42.9%	20	57.1%	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Assaults	3,590	100%	141	3.9%	410	11.4%	504	14.0%	1,516	42.2%	803	22.4%	216	6.0%
Other violent violations	1,817	100%	53	2.9%	253	13.9%	216	11.9%	684	37.6%	457	25.2%	154	8.5%
Criminal Code traffic violations causing death or bodily harm	21	100%	1	4.8%	3	14.3%	3	14.3%	8	38.1%	4	19.0%	2	9.5%
Total violent violations	5,609	100%	248	4.4%	715	12.7%	738	13.2%	2,245	40.0%	1,284	22.9%	379	6.8%
Table 5.4 footnotes Notes of table 5.4 Notes: Sexual violations against children include historical cases reported by victims as adults. Percentages were calculated by excluding victims whose age was unknown from the total number of victims in the denominator. Please use caution when interpreting findings for categories with less than 10 victims. Source of table 5.4 Source: Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Footnotes

Footnote 38

Rates are from a custom tabulation of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey by Statistics Canada, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

Return to footnote 38 referrer

Footnote 39

Calculations based on Table 5.1.

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Footnote 40

Rates are from a custom tabulation of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey by Statistics Canada, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

Return to footnote 40 referrer

Footnote 41

Calculations based on Table 5.1.

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Footnote 42

Ibid.

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Footnote 43

Calculations based on Tables 5.3 and 5.4.

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Footnote 44