At least nine people were killed in police actions in Canada in January 2025. These deaths include people who were directly killed by police, as in police shootings, and people who died during police deployments or in police custody.

In 2024, at least 100 people were killed in police actions. There were at least 97 police-involved deaths in Canada in 2023, while in 2022, there were at least 117 police-involved deaths.

Two people were shot and killed by police in January. Three people died in falls during police deployments. Four people died in custody or during arrest. At least three victims were described as being in some sort of crisis at the time of the police action. At least four of the victims have been identified publicly as women.

The details below are based on police reports, reports from oversight agencies, and in some cases information from families. As always, because there are no formal, systemic mechanisms for documenting and reporting police killings publicly in Canada, all numbers presented for police-involved deaths represent an undercount. In addition to the known cases, there are instances of police-involved deaths that have no reporting. There may also be cases which are not reported publicly until some time, months or even years, after they occurred.

Remember, too, that police are often the only ones on scene when they kill, apart from the victim. Police control the flow of information when they kill.

 

 

January 8. Durham Regional Police. Fall.

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating the death of a woman who fell from a balcony at a Whitby apartment on January 8. They report that Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) officers arrested a man who was part of a police investigation that morning in the Dryden Boulevard and Thickson Road area and then went to an apartment building on Waller Street that was believed to be linked to the man they arrested. According to the SIU, while officers were in the unit, they “came to learn” that a woman had fallen from the unit’s balcony. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other details have been released, including police actions while in the unit. Police did not reveal what the man was arrested for.

The SIU did not provide the woman’s age or say how far she fell. They also did not say how many, if any, specific officers are being investigated. Three investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.

 

 

January 13. Toronto Police. Fall.

The SIU is investigating the death of a 44-year-old woman who fell from an apartment balcony at 100 High Park Avenue while interacting with Toronto police early in the morning of January 13. According to the SIU, the incident happened just before 2 AM when Toronto police officers went to the apartment in the city’s west end looking for a wanted person.

The SIU says that police spoke with a woman at the apartment who then allegedly tried to scale down the balcony. She fell and was found by officers on the ground. She was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead. No police claims have been confirmed independently.

The building is the same highrise where Regis Korchinski-Paquet (29), fell to her death from a balcony during a police deployment while she was in crisis in 2020.

 

January 14. Manitoba RCMP. Shooting.

Morris RCMP shot and killed a 33-year-old man in Dominion City, Manitoba, on January 14. It is reported that at about 8:30 AM, Morris RCMP were called to a residence in Dominion City for a wellness check. Police claim a man exited a garage on the property carrying a metal object. The officer then fired his weapon striking the man. Emergency Medical Services arrived and transported the man to hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries. None of the police claims have been confirmed independently.

Policing is not about wellness. Policing is violence.

 

January 16. Manitoba RCMP. Custody.

The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of Manitoba is investigating the death of a woman on January 16, following her arrest by the RCMP the day before. According to the IIU, on January 15 at approximately 8 PM, officers were dispatched to a 911 hang-up call at a residence in Vogar. Officers arrived and were informed that a woman was allegedly “under the influence of drugs and tried to use a weapon on someone in the residence.” The woman was arrested.

While police were driving her for a medical assessment at Lakeshore General Hospital in Ashern, an officer noted she had become unresponsive. She was taken by ambulance to Lakeshore General Hospital, and she was later transported to St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. On January 16, police were informed that the woman had died in hospital.

Because this involves a fatality, the IIU has made a request for a civilian monitor to the Manitoba Police Commission.

 

January 19-20. RCMP. Custody.

The IIU is investigating the death of a man in RCMP custody on the night of January 19-20.

It is reported that on January 19 at approximately 7 PM, the RCMP detachment in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, received a report of a missing man in the area of Madge Lake. The report suggested that the missing person was not dressed for the weather. RCMP members from Kamsack, Swan River, Russell, Roblin, and Dauphin, along with conservation officers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, went to the area to search for him.

The man was located by a remotely piloted aircraft system in the bush approximately 200 to 300 meters from officers. They found him and he was searched and placed in handcuffs. He was carried from the bush and upon arrival at the police vehicle was reassessed and no longer had a pulse. Emergency medical services transported the victim to a hospital in Swan River.

In the early morning hours of January 20, police were informed the man had died. Because this involves a fatality, the IIU will ask the Manitoba Police Commission to appoint a civilian monitor.

 

January 21. BC RCMP.

The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating the death of a man in Powell River following a wellness check and during an RCMP and Emergency Response Team (ERT) deployment on January 21. According to the IIO, at about 10:40 AM, police responded to a request to check on the wellness of a man living in the 4500 block of Golden Avenue. They report that officers spoke to the man, then left.

Police received another call regarding the same man concerned for his wellbeing and allegedly reporting that the man was armed. Police officers, including members of the Emergency Response Team, arrived on scene. At some point, the man was pronounced dead from what is initially reported as a self-inflicted injury.

No other details are available. Police claims have not been independently confirmed publicly.

 

January 21-22. Toronto Police. Fall.

A woman fell to her death from a balcony in Toronto after interacting with Toronto Police Service officers on the evening of January 21. Multiple media outlets have reported that the woman was 34, but the SIU reports her age as 29 in their press release. This is the second person to die in a fall during a TPS action in under 10 days.

The SIU reports that Toronto police responded to a call about a person standing on a balcony railing around 10:50 PM near King Street West and Spadina Avenue. Officers reportedly attempted to communicate with the woman, and she fell moments later. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead the next morning.

 

January 24. Manitoba RCMP. Custody.

A man died shortly after being arrested and detained in the back seat of an RCMP cruiser on January 24. The IIU of Manitoba reports that an RCMP officer stopped a vehicle on Highway 6 in the rural municipality of St. Laurent around 2:40 PM. Two men were arrested for reasons unrelated to the traffic stop and detained in a police cruiser. Shortly after, one of the men suffered a medical emergency. The officer called for an ambulance and then checked on the man. He was unresponsive and did not have a pulse. Paramedics arrived and treated the man for approximately 45 minutes before pronouncing him dead.

Because this involves a fatality, the IIU has requested a civilian monitor from the Manitoba Police Commission. No other information is available publicly at this time.

 

January 31. Surrey Police Service. Shooting.

Surrey Police Service (SPS) officers shot and killed a person on the evening of January 31. The IIO reports that shortly after 9 PM, officers were called regarding an arrest warrant on a person living at an address in the 13900 block of 100 Avenue.

When police arrived, they located the person in question and attempted to arrest them. According to the IIO, there was an undisclosed “interaction, during which police fired weapons, including a firearm, and the [person] suffered a life-threatening injury.” Emergency Health Services were called and the victim died at the scene.

No other details are currently available publicly. Police claims have not been independently confirmed.

The Surrey Police Service only became the municipal force of jurisdiction in the city last Fall.

Jeff Shantz is a long-time anti-authoritarian organizer, researcher, and writer who lives and works on Kwantlen, Katzie, and Semiahmoo territories (Surrey, British Columbia).

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