Total prison population: 31,624 prisoners 

Crime trend: Up 6% in 2000–2001

CRIME RATES

Rates for serious crime are lower in Canada than in the US. Canadians ascribe this to their far stricter gun control laws, which were further tightened in the 1990s.

Newfoundland police began carrying guns routinely only in 1998, the last force in North America to do so. There have been careful efforts to maintain the inner cities as crime-free zones.

To address the narcotics problem, innovative "drug treatment courts" in Toronto and Vancouver link criminal justice with treatment and social care.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004