This story is a joint effort between Cambridge Chronicle and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF).
A video went viral on social media in the summer of 2023. It captured two men fighting inside a Toronto subway car before one suddenly runs off yelling for help.
Right after, another passenger shouts, “He’s stabbing him up,” causing a crowd of people to scatter from the scene. The person filming quickly points their camera down to show what looks like a trail of blood on the floor.
Derek Dyckhoff was stabbed at least ten times during that attack.
“I died on the operating table once and I’m pretty sure I was this close to dying on the subway floor,” Dyckhoff told Cambridge Chronicle and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF).
Derek Dyckhoff was seriously stabbed during an incident on a Toronto subway train in 2023. (CBC)
This stabbing highlights a worrying trend happening across several Canadian cities, uncovered through an investigation by CBC’s visual investigations team and IJF.
Over the past ten years, violent crime reports on transit systems around Toronto and other major metro areas have shot up sharply-far beyond what overall crime trends would suggest, based on exclusive Statistics Canada data.
An investigation by Cambridge Chronicle and the Investigative Journalism Foundation found that public transit crime has spiked over the last decade and is still higher than pre-pandemic levels. (Cambridge Chronicle, Metro Vancouver Transit Police via Cambridge Chronicle, Mike Vogiatzakis/Facebook, america_nri_la_frustration/Facebook, blog TO/X, Mr Andy Ngo/X, Edmonton Explorer/Facebook,)
The total assaults reported on transit across eight of Canada’s 10 largest census metropolitan areas – which together hold about half of Canada’s population – doubled from 2016 to 2024.
That increase is way more than the 53 percent rise in assaults reported everywhere else within those regions during that same time frame.
The numbers are especially sharp for Toronto’s metro area. Assaults reported on transit there jumped by 160 percent while all violent crimes related to transit rose by 127 percent between those years.
In Winnipeg though, violent crimes linked to transit have skyrocketed even more – tripling with a whopping 281 percent increase since then.
Edmonton, Montreal plus Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge have also seen their rates more than double over this period.
Data from a freedom of information request to Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) shows similar patterns between 2018 and 2024.
This kind of crime statistic partly explains why Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford feels uneasy about taking his two young daughters onto public transit himself.
“It’s the indiscriminate nature,” he said. “It’s the fact that you have nowhere to go.”
Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford told CBC these stats match how people feel about safety on city transit today. (Michael Cole/CBC)
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green admitted worries about safety have grown since COVID-19 hit but insisted “by any objective measure, the TTC is safe.”.
“We move millions of trips daily without trouble but we never take that for granted,” he wrote in a statement. “More people with complex challenges are using transit as shelter now which is why we’ve changed how we deal with this.”.......
This Wednesday after this article first appeared officials announced expanding their Neighbourhood Community Officer program onto parts of subways too.
When asked about this report at that event Mayor Olivia Chow said violence had gone down under her watch thanks to increased security staffing and outreach efforts inside TTC property making it safer overall.
Some easing seen but violence still high
There are signs things might be calming down somewhat across many cities included in these stats.
Violent crimes tied specifically to transit hit their highest points last year across places like Toronto , Montreal , Winnipeg , Calgary , Edmonton plus Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge then fell slightly so far in ’24.
Still though those numbers remain well above where they were ten years ago.This is just part one in our series covering violence onboard public transportation. Got your own story ? Drop us an email at ask@cbc. ca.
There are some exceptions here too.<a screenshot taken from surveillance footage shows someone being pushed downstairs at Vancouver Sky Train station back in ’22; assault charges followed later.(CBC)
Murtaza Haider heads up University Of Alberta’s Cities Institute & has studied public transport for decades; his research also noticed crime spikes during & soon after Covid before dropping some again afterward.
The CBC-IJF figures bring up new questions compared with his observations, he said. “Pretend violent crime hasn’t dropped back fully pre-pandemic except maybe Vancouver tells us something else must be going on… there’s bigger need for provinces/cities working together improving safety onboard vehicles & stations,” Haider explained. Green from TTC says rising reports explain ongoing high rates: “We encourage reporting more incidents now; easier ways exist & staff handles them better; can’t say definitely if actual incidents grew but we know about more.”
Repeat offenders often involved-not usually homeless
David Cooper who consults publicly says many reasons likely play into rises both off/on system: “The environments shifted drastically post-pandemic: opioid crisis hitting hard along mental health struggles plus affordability woes changing how spaces look-transit isn’t immune either.”Transportation consultant David Cooper told Cambridge Chronicle repeat offenders largely drive much violence seen recently.(Submitted by David Cooper) Cooper mentioned while riding with cops he saw most violence caused by few repeat individuals frequently encountered who often aren’t homeless. “A homeless person isn’t usually committing crimes here,” he added “Much violence targets vulnerable folks preyed upon.” Last year Cooper gave suggestions aimed at tackling concerns including calls for improved housing/mental health help plus funding extra security/enforcement roles. This month TTC launched new plan hiring extra staff onsite adding crisis training/security monitoring also rolling out crisis worker programs partially through subway routes. Winnipeg launched similar initiative September increasing police presence riding routes/facilities. Calgary spends $15 million yearly employing many peace officers connecting social services meanwhile Edmonton boosts special police teams focused solely on transit safety.
Arrests dropping despite rising attacks
TTC data obtained via freedom info requests revealed growing assaults against peace officers since ’18; only one assault recorded each ’18 & ’19 yet sixteen happened last year alone. Five homicides occurred aboard Toronto’s system within these years too. Buses handle nearly half annual riders yet make up thirty per cent all incidents according data; sixteen percent happened inside subway cars; fourteen percent took place platforms/train stops respectively. It appears fewer cases end immediately with arrests or charges although numbers only capture suspects caught right away at scene itself. Arrest rates dropped from twenty per cent down eleven per cent for all violent offenses over period while charge rates slid roughly nineteen per cent falling near ten per cent as well according TTC records. Bradford finds those stats worrying but not shocking: “I think it fits public views because as customers or Torontonians alike see antisocial/criminal behaviour daily commuting.” Dyckhoff recalled attack began when telling man behind him turn music down: “He just wasn’t having it so things escalated.”A clip screenshot showing man holding knife who stabbed Derek Dyckhoff.(My Whistling Whistle/You Tube) Video reveals Dyckhoff threw first punch though unclear initially because he saw other guy reach pocket pulling blade out himself. Attacker fled scene but later arrested charged attempted murder/aggravated assault-the case remains active. Nowadays Dyckhoff tries avoiding buses/subways driving instead yet admits it’s sometimes unavoidable: “What am I gonna do? Not ride? Gotta get places.”
How we got our numbers:
This report comes from collaboration between Cambridge Chronicle/Investigative Journalism Foundation using custom Statistics Canada datasets based mainly off Uniform Crime Reporting Survey collecting annual police-reported crimes.
The dataset covers yearly counts/rates per 100k population focusing assaults including common weapon-related aggravated ones bundled alongside all other violent offenses like homicide sexual harassment robbery threats etc grouped separately by location type distinguishing those related directly to public transport such as buses streetcars subways trains shelters stops school buses anywhere within CMA urban metros spanning years ’15 through ‘24. The CMAs used include Montreal Toronto Hamilton Kitchener Waterloo Winnipeg Calgary Edmonton Vancouver Victoria Nanaimo St John’s Fredericton excluding portions policed differently among some regions’ boundaries noted separately. Only twelve had enough data annually allowing inclusion here excluding Fredericton/St John’s reporting zero relevant events or incomplete earlier data periods discarded due irregularities like Montreal ’15 low counts not matching following consistent records confirmed officer spokeswoman Samantha Velandia attributing issues then mostly due inconsistent reporting practices rather than real trends. To break down hotspots/trends further FOI requests were sent out collecting data sets directly from TTC Winnipeg Police Edmonton Police Calgary Police Metro Vancouver Transit Police noting varying methods prevent direct cross-city comparisons possible. University of Alberta expert Murtaza Haider along with research assistant Simeon Ranxha helped analyze figures clean duplicates ensuring reliable pattern recognition throughout study phase.”
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