2024 Fast Fact Sheet

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Summary

The overall number of persons who went missing decreased by 4% in 2024, from 70,168 occurrences in 2023 to 67,611 in 2024, bringing the total number to 8% lower than it was pre-COVID (i.e. 2019). Figure 1 highlights that the most dramatic impact observed during the pandemic was on the number of missing children occurrences (under 18 years of age), where the number of occurrences has still not yet risen back to pre-COVID levels. The number of missing adults has been above the 2019 levels for the past three years.

Chart 1: Number of missing persons occurrences by year, age group and sex

Number of missing persons occurrences by year, age group and sex
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Female child 23,014 19,317 16,756 17,487 20,654 19,052
Female adult 14,169 13,009 13,972 14,629 14,995 15,648
Male child 17,490 12,764 11,350 13,457 13,819 13,673
Male adult 19,216 17,266 17,950 19,698 20,700 19,657

Chart 2 highlights occurrences that remain open as of December 31, 2024 from all previous years, by probable cause. The oldest open occurrence dates back to 1919. The data in this figure, when compared to annual statistics in the tables, illustrates that certain types of occurrences may be resolved quicker than others. Only 509 (1%) of occurrences of persons who went missing in 2024 were still open on the day the data for this report was extracted (February 10 2025).

Chart 2: Number of open missing persons occurrences by probable cause, as of 2024-12-31

Number of open missing persons occurrences by probable cause, as of 2024-12-31
Human trafficking (0.02%) Abducted by relative (0.2%) Parental abduction, no custody order (1%) Parental abduction, custody order (1%) Abduction by a stranger (2%) Wandered off, lost (8%) Presumed Dead (9%) Other (9%) Runaway (11%) Accident (23%) Unknown (36%) Total
2 20 91 108 140 658 750 785 912 1,884 2,996 8,346

Introduction

The National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) 2024 Fast Fact Sheet provides a national breakdown of missing persons reports (occurrences) by province, age (child or adult), sex (female, male, other or unknown), and probable cause. It has been prepared using numbers generated by the national Missing Children/Persons and Unidentified Remains (MC/PUR) database, which provides the necessary data and tools to coordinate a national approach to these investigations. MC/PUR includes occurrences which are currently open, and concluded occurrences that were open any time after May 16, 2014.

The data in MC/PUR is derived from missing persons transactions in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC). Therefore, it is limited by the quality and types of data that agencies enter into CPIC and the techniques used by MC/PUR to compile that data. Not all people who go missing are necessarily reported to police, and not all cases reported to police are entered onto CPIC (especially those that are resolved quickly Footnote 1) but the numbers here are unable to represent those. CPIC transactions include repeat runaways and situations where a single instance of a missing person may be entered and deleted multiple times over a period of time. MC/PUR uses algorithms in an attempt to identify and eliminate duplicate data and produce more accurate statistics.Footnote 2 An occurrence is considered as belonging to the year 2024 based on the person’s reported “Date Last Seen”. The numbers reported herein reflect a “point in time” and can change if records for 2024 cases are added, modified, or flagged as duplicate. The majority of the MC/PUR reports used for this Fast Fact Sheet were generated on February 3, 2025.Footnote 3

It is also important to note that in terms of probable cause, there is subjectivity in the original CPIC data that populates MC/PUR and it may not be consistently completed nor maintained by agencies.

One hundred and ninety-six (196) missing adults were not included in the adult subjects table as there was no probable cause entered. It is not possible to determine for any one case if the mandatory SEX field in CPIC is capturing biological sex or gender identity, except perhaps for 125 individuals where the recently added value “Other” was used. Since they represent a small percentage of the overall numbers (0.003%), they have not been included in the table below. Of these 125 missing adults of “Other” sex, 21 (17%) had the probable cause of runaway, seven (7) (6%) had wandered off, and 97 (78%) were either unknown or other probable cause.

For children, 45 missing children were not included in the child subjects table as there was no probable cause entered. Additionally, 395 missing children (1% of the overall number) were not included in the table as the sex was “Other.” Of these 395 missing children of “Other” sex, 310 (78%) had the probable cause of runaway, eight (8) (2%) had wandered off, one (0.2%) had the probable cause of human trafficking, and 76 (19%) were either unknown or other probable cause.

While the NCMPUR anticipates that future Fast Fact Sheets will be in a similar format to the one produced this year, the categories may change in future years and retroactive comparisons to previous years may not be possible.

This fact sheet has been compiled for NCMPUR by Strategic and Operational Services (SOS), Program Research and Development Unit (PRDU).

Fast fact sheet: MC/PUR missing adult subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2024

Table 1: MC/PUR missing adult subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2024 Table 1 note 1
Provinces and territories (Population in 2024 Table 1 note 2) Abduction by stranger Accident Wandered off, lost Parental abduction with custody order Parental abduction without custody order Abducted by relative Runaway Presumed dead Human trafficking Unknown Other Total
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Alberta (4,931,601) 6 4 0 2 176 301 2 1 0 0 0 0 120 141 0 1 3 0 1,090 1,368 68 95 3,378
British Columbia (5,719,594) 4 6 8 27 537 650 4 2 1 0 0 0 579 509 1 4 0 0 5,020 5,316 918 978 14,564
Manitoba (1,499,981) 0 0 0 2 39 75 0 0 1 0 1 0 220 163 0 1 1 0 413 368 100 98 1,482
New Brunswick (857,381) 1 0 0 1 17 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 99 96 0 2 0 0 144 238 19 19 675
Newfoundland and Labrador (545,880) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 1 0 0 62 67 5 12 157
Nova Scotia (1,079,676) 0 0 0 1 8 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 55 9 1 1 0 0 56 93 48 77 367
Ontario (16,171,802) 5 5 2 4 241 570 2 1 3 2 4 2 505 766 3 10 19 0 2,218 2,926 371 541 8,200
Prince Edward Island (179,301) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 6 4 2 2 19
Quebec (9,100,249) 1 6 3 6 72 178 4 0 3 2 0 0 445 1,214 0 5 3 4 536 983 212 519 4,196
Saskatchewan (1,246,691) 1 1 0 0 25 68 0 0 0 0 1 0 407 284 0 0 1 0 571 548 35 43 1,985
Yukon (46,948) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 25 1 4 52
Northwest Territories (44,936) 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 15 0 0 29
Nunavut (41,258) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5
Total (41,465,298) 18 23 13 44 1,118 1,906 12 4 8 4 6 2 2,432 3,192 6 25 27 4 10,145 11,951 1,779 2,390 35,109

Fast facts

  • 52% of all missing persons reports (all sexes, adults and children) involved adults
  • 56% of missing adult reports in 2024 involved males
  • 63% of adults who wandered off were males
  • 32% of missing adult reports in 2024 were removed from CPIC within 24 hours, while 72% were removed within a weekTable 1 note 3
  • In 2024, British Columbia had the highest number of missing adult reports per capita, with 254 reports per 100,000 people, followed by Saskatchewan with 160 reports per 100,000 people. Prince Edward Island had the lowest, with eleven (11) reports per 100,000 peopleTable 1 note 4
  • 12% of all missing adults in 2024 were Indigenous and 59% of all missing Indigenous adults were femaleTable 1 note 5

Fast fact sheet: MC/PUR missing child subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2024

Table 2: MC/PUR missing child subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2024 Table 2 note 1
Provinces and territories (Population in 2024) Table 2 note 2 Abduction by stranger Accident Wandered off, lost Parental abduction with custody order Parental abduction without custody order Abducted by relative Runaway Presumed dead Human trafficking Unknown Other Total
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Alberta (4,931,601) 2 2 0 0 47 38 0 4 4 4 0 0 1,932 1,088 0 0 0 0 157 97 22 16 3,413
British Columbia (5,719,594) 0 1 3 1 95 65 9 7 4 2 0 0 1,170 582 0 0 0 0 1,965 1,152 413 229 5,698
Manitoba (1,499,981) 1 0 0 0 12 6 2 0 1 0 2 2 1,248 575 0 0 0 0 185 104 32 10 2,180
New Brunswick (857,381) 1 1 0 0 2 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 617 357 0 0 0 0 54 38 3 3 1,083
Newfoundland and Labrador (545,880) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 26 0 0 0 0 85 105 20 4 285
Nova Scotia (1,079,676) 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 253 167 0 0 0 0 13 12 8 5 463
Ontario (16,171,802) 3 0 1 0 39 41 4 5 10 6 1 3 3,465 1,784 1 0 59 0 1,035 576 283 168 7,484
Prince Edward Island (179,301) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
Quebec (9,100,249) 2 7 1 1 7 17 10 10 11 12 1 2 2,226 3,306 0 0 1 0 324 463 118 134 6,653
Saskatchewan (1,246,691) 2 1 0 0 6 8 1 1 2 3 1 1 2,431 1,944 0 1 0 0 540 443 16 8 5,409
Yukon (46,948) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3
Northwest Territories (44,936) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Nunavut (41,258) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
Total (41,465,298) 11 13 5 2 210 181 28 27 33 28 5 8 13,389 9,830 1 2 60 0 4,362 2,993 915 577 32,680

Fast facts

  • 57% of all missing children/youth reports in 2024 involved females
  • 55% of missing children/youth reports in 2024 were removed from CPIC within 24 hours, while 90% were removed within a weekTable 2 note 3
  • In 2024, Saskatchewan had the highest number of missing children/youth reports per capita, with 440 reports per 100,000 people, followed by Manitoba with 143 reports per 100,000 people. Prince Edward Island had the lowest, with two (2) reports per 100,000 peopleTable 2 note 4
  • 77% of all missing children/youth subjects in 2024 were between the ages of 14-17
  • 72% of all missing children/youth subjects in 2024 were identified as runaways, 57% of whom were female
  • 23% of missing children/youth in 2024 were Indigenous and 67% of all missing Indigenous children/youth were femaleTable 2 note 5
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