A video that circulated on social media during the summer of 2023 captured a violent incident on a Toronto subway train. The footage shows two men engaged in a fight, leading to one of them fleeing while screaming for help. A witness shouted that a stabbing had occurred, causing panic among onlookers. Derek Dyckhoff, the victim, sustained multiple stab wounds in the attack and shared his harrowing experience with CBC News and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF).
A joint investigation by CBC and IJF revealed a concerning trend of rising violent crimes on public transit systems across various Canadian cities, as highlighted by exclusive Statistics Canada data. The data indicated a substantial increase in reported assaults on transit in eight of Canada’s largest census metropolitan areas between 2016 and 2024, far surpassing the overall crime rate escalation in those regions during the same period.
Specifically, the Toronto area witnessed a significant surge in reported physical assaults on transit, with a 160% increase, while overall violent crimes on the transit system rose by 127%. Similar trends were observed in Winnipeg, where transit-related violent crimes tripled, and in Edmonton, Montreal, and the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge region of Ontario, where rates more than doubled.
Statistics obtained from a freedom of information request to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) exhibited a consistent pattern of rising incidents from 2018 to 2024. These alarming crime statistics have raised safety concerns among the public, with Toronto City Councillor Brad Bradford expressing unease about using public transit due to the indiscriminate nature of the crimes.
In response to the escalating transit violence, various cities have implemented safety measures. Toronto introduced the Neighbourhood Community Officer program in certain subway areas, while other cities like Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton have bolstered police presence and security measures on their transit systems.
Although there are indications of a slight decrease in transit-related violent crime rates in some regions by 2024, the rates still remain elevated compared to a decade ago. The data highlights the urgency for coordinated efforts at the city and provincial levels to enhance safety on transit properties and vehicles to mitigate the ongoing risks of violent crimes.