CrimeMaps.ca normalises hundreds of police-reported incident labels into 13 standard categories. This glossary explains what each category includes, what it excludes, and how it maps to Canadian Criminal Code offences.
Crime categories defined
Assault
Physical attack on another person. Includes common assault and aggravated assault. Does not include sexual assault (a separate category). View assault data →
Sexual assault
Any unwanted sexual contact or behaviour without consent. Includes all severity levels as defined under the Canadian Criminal Code. View sexual assault data →
Break and enter
Unlawful entry into a building or dwelling with intent to commit an offence. Commonly known as burglary in other jurisdictions. View break and enter data →
Auto theft
Theft of a motor vehicle. Includes cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other motorised vehicles. View auto theft data →
Robbery
Theft involving force, threat of force, or a weapon. Distinct from theft (which involves no confrontation) and assault (which involves no theft). View robbery data →
Homicide
The killing of one person by another. Includes murder, manslaughter, and infanticide as defined by the Criminal Code of Canada. View homicide data →
Shooting
Discharge of a firearm. Includes shootings where someone was injured and discharge events without injury. Some cities report these under assault or weapons offences. View shooting data →
Theft
Taking property without consent and without force. Covers shoplifting, pickpocketing, and other non-confrontational theft. View theft data →
Theft from vehicle
Stealing items from inside a vehicle without taking the vehicle itself. Often called "break-in" or "car prowl" in common usage. View theft from vehicle data →
Bike theft
Theft of a bicycle. Tracked separately from general theft in cities where police publish it as a distinct category. View bike theft data →
Mischief
Intentional destruction or damage to property. Includes vandalism, graffiti, and wilful damage. View mischief data →
Fraud
Obtaining money, property, or services through deception. Includes identity fraud, cheque fraud, and online fraud. View fraud data →
Other
Incidents that do not fit into the 12 defined categories. May include weapons offences, drug offences, or locally-defined incident types. View other data →
Why 13 categories?
Canadian police services use different labelling systems — Toronto has over 150 distinct offence types, while smaller services may use fewer than 20. To make cross-city comparison meaningful, CrimeMaps.ca maps all upstream labels into this fixed taxonomy. The mapping is deterministic and documented in our methodology.
CrimeMaps.ca is an interactive crime map of Canada, aggregating crime incidents from 58+ Canadian cities into a single map. All data is sourced from official municipal and police open-data portals. No account is required.