Two SPVQ police cars on street.
At least three people were killed through Canadian police actions in April 2026. Police have killed at least 20 people so far this year.
At least nine people were killed by Canadian police in March 2026 and at least three people were killed in February 2026. In January, police killed at least five people. One person was also killed by private security serving in a hospital in January.
In 2025, at least 94 people were killed in Canadian police actions. In 2024, at least 100 people were killed. There were at least 97 police-involved deaths in Canada in 2023, while in 2022 there were at least 117 police-involved deaths.
One person was shot and killed by police in April. One person died in police custody. One person was killed in a police vehicular pursuit.
The details below are based on police reports, reports from oversight agencies, media reports, 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.
As well as the known cases, there are instances of police-involved deaths that have no formal public reporting. For example, the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) lists one death investigation for which they provide no reporting: RCMP in Nanaimo on April 17. There are also other deaths for which insufficient information is available regarding the interactions and/or role of police, whether there was a direct encounter, etc.
April 1. Winnipeg Police Service. Custody.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) is investigating the death of a man in Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) custody on April 1. The IIU reports that at approximately 8 AM, the WPS communications centre received a 911 call from a woman who said a man had broken into her residence in the 100 block of Burrin Avenue. Officers from the north district general patrol unit attended the scene and found an unconscious man on the floor. Officers determined the man was in medical distress. They handcuffed him, began providing aid, and requested an ambulance. The man was taken to St. Boniface Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
April 15. Quebec City Police Service. Shooting.
A man was shot and killed by Quebec City Police Service (Service de police de la Ville de Québec, SPVQ) officers on April 15. The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) reports that a call was made to 911 regarding a person who was allegedly in possession of a firearm. SPVQ officers responded and reportedly formed a perimeter at the home where the person in question was located and attempted to make contact with him. The man reportedly exited the home, allegedly with a firearm, and police shot him. He was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The BEI has assigned seven investigators to examine the killing.
April 21. Ontario Provincial Police. Pursuit.
A person was killed when the vehicle they were driving crashed into Lake Ontario and sank after being pursued by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on April 21, in Greater Napanee, according to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). On April 22, OPP divers located a deceased person inside the submerged vehicle. The victim has not been identified publicly.
According to the SIU, at approximately 10:55 PM, an officer with the Lennox and Addington OPP detachment attempted to stop a driver on Bath Road. Shortly after, the vehicle hit a ditch and entered Lake Ontario in the area of Highway 33 and County Road 21, a stretch of road that runs between the Village of Bath and the Town of Napanee.
In response to media inquiries, the SIU has further clarified that “it is not believed that there were additional occupants” of the vehicle.
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).