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Gangs in Canada are mostly present in the major urban areas of Canada, although their activities are not confined to large cities.

Ethnic breakdown of youth gangs

Police-reported ethnic breakdown of youth gang members from a 2002 report Percent as of today Key: + increase - decrease = no change

Canada

= First Nations 22-28%, - African Canadian/Black

British Columbia

- East Asian 37%, = Caucasian/White 22%, + East Indian/Pakistani 14%, + First Nations 10%, - Latino/Hispanic 8%, + Middle Eastern/Arabic 5%, - African Canadian/Black 5%

Alberta

- First Nations 58%, - Latino/Hispanic 33%, + Caucasian/White 8% (increase in all other ethnicities)

Saskatchewan

- First Nations 96%, + Caucasian/White 2%, = Latino/Hispanic 2%

Manitoba

+ First Nations 58%, = Caucasian/White 26%, = African 9%, = Hispanic 3%,= East Indian 3%

Ontario

= African Canadian/Black 36%, = Caucasian/White 21%, + East Indian/Pakistani/Sri Lankan 21%, + Asian 8%, + Latino/Hispanic 6%, + Middle Eastern/Arabic 4%, = First Nations 4%

Quebec

- African Canadian/Black 45%, + Middle Eastern/Arabic 34%, = Latino/Hispanic 8%, - Asian 6%, + Caucasian/White 5%, + East Indian/Pakistani 20%

Nova Scotia

- African Canadian/Black 48%, = Caucasian/White 47%, + First Nations 9%

Types

The most prevalent gangs in Canada include:

• Street gangs
• Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
• Mafias and Organized crime groups, including Aboriginal Based Organized Crime, Punjabi organized crime, and East Asian organized crime
• Drug cartels

According to a 2004 police report, "The Hells Angels remain some of the largest and most powerful motorcycle gangs in the country, with growing influence in British Columbia and Ontario. Its presence has declined in other provinces due to police efforts, internal conflict and increased competition from other crime groups."

The same report stated that Aboriginal street gangs are not as highly organized as other criminal organizations in Canada, but are amongst the most violent. Aboriginal people also constitute a significant portion of prison populations throughout Canada, and the number of First Nation inmates continues to rise at a considerable rate. As of 2005 it is believed over 1000 Aboriginal youths were members of street gangs.

According to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC), "The established, well-financed and -connected Hong Kong Triad groups and crime syndicates remain, to our mind, the biggest long-term threat to Canadian law enforcement and society."

In addition to Triad Societies, other Asian criminal groups, such as The Big Circle Gang, have also established national networks based in the major cities of Canada.

By city

Abbotsford

Known crime groups in Abbotsford involve Punjabi street gangs, various East Asian crime groups, motorcycle gangs, and multicultural street gangs.

However, there has been a gang conflict in the city mostly in West end part of the city in the Townhill Area. The gang conflict is between two South Asian gangs which involves 40 men in total between the ages of 15 to 25.

According to the Abbotsford Youth Crime Prevention Project has assessed groups of people deemed to be most vulnerable to becoming part of a gang in the city.

Calgary

Major crime groups in Calgary include Aboriginal street, East Asian (Filipino/Chinese/Vietnamese/Cambodian) street gangs, Middle Eastern/Lebanese organized crime gangs, Indo-Canadian/Punjabi street gangs and Black street gangs, among others are biker gangs, Mexican drug cartels, Somali/Sudanese drug trafficking groups, and Pakistani street gangs.

Between 2002-2009 there was a bloody gang war between two rival East Asian gangs the FK and FOB gangs which resulted in 25 gang related murders. Not only East Asians were involved but there were also White, (East) Indian, and in some cases Black gang members part of these gangs. Disputes over the illegal distribution of fentanyl have broken out within the Middle Eastern community (with some being Lebanese). Similar to the Asian street gangs of the early 2000s, these are not therefore from exclusively one ethnicity.

Edmonton

Major crime groups in Edmonton have been identified as most being Aboriginal, Black (Somali-East African/Central African/Jamaican), Middle Eastern (Persian/Lebanese), East Asian (Chinese/Vietnamese/Filipino/Cambodian) and Central/Eastern European across a similar broad social spectrum. With other crime groups involved in Edmonton as well such as Hispanic gangs, biker gangs, Aryan Nation groups, and Indo-Canadian street gangs.

However recently the arrival of Mexican drug traffickers, along with increased activity by outlaw motorcycle gangs, is changing the face of organized crime in Alberta especially in the major cities of Edmonton along with Calgary.

Halifax

Biker gangs have, at various points, played a major role in Halifax's crime scene, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. However, a crackdown on biker gang activity throughout Eastern Canada, in the wake of the Quebec Biker War. Most biker gangs are composed of extended families or of close associates, providing little scope for recruitment or promotion from outside. The well-known Bloods and Crips have been part of Halifax's gang environment as well.

Hamilton

Hamilton was once home to organized crime figure Rocco Perri, so-called Canada's Al Capone, and Johnny Pops Papilia.

Montreal

Gangs in Montreal are mostly Caucasian (most Italian, French, Irish and Russian) but there are minority gangs which are mostly of Jamaican, Haitian, Hispanic, Lebanese, Asian, Sri Lankan, or Cambodian descent. United smaller street gangs made up of mostly youths are pocketed in different areas of the Montreal area, particularly in Montréal-Nord, St-Michel, Parc-Extension, Ville Saint-Laurent(St-Low), Côte-des-Neiges, NDG, Rivière-des-Prairies and St-Léonard neighbourhoods.

Ottawa

Major crime groups in Ottawa involve White/Irish gangs, Biker gangs, Arab street gangs, and East Asian crime groups. Many other crime groups also exist mainly Lebanese and Somali. In Ottawa, by the early twentieth-century, drive by shootings were rare and most gang activity involved narcotic distribution.

Saskatchewan

Adult gangs in Saskatchewan are almost entirely aboriginal based. The largest gang activity is in Regina and Saskatoon. There is also a branch of the Hells Angels in the province. Youth gangs are also almost entirely aboriginal based. Saskatchewan had the highest concentration of gang membership in Canada at 1.34 per 1000 in 2002 There are possibly 108 street gangs for the Prairie region.

Greater Toronto Area

Certain neighbourhoods in Toronto have experienced gang and organized crime activity including human trafficking, firearm trafficking, drug trafficking, robbery, and Mafia/mob activity.

A police survey found that most youth gangs in Ontario and the GTA are ethnically African/Caribbean (Somali/Jamaican/Haitian/Guyanese), Caucasian (Italian/Russian/Portuguese/Albanian/Polish/Greek/Spanish), and South Asian (Indian-Punjabi/Pakistani/Sri Lankan-Tamil). There are also a number of Asian (Filipino/Chinese-Tibetan/Vietnamese/Cambodian/Korean) and Latino gangs in the area. Other minor groups are Biker gangs, Supremacist groups, and Mexican drug cartels, Middle Eastern (Persian/Afghan) gangs and Aboriginal street gangs.

Although Toronto's murder rate remains low, there has been a recent rise in gun violence in the downtown core of the greater Toronto area. The two most focal incidents were the Boxing Day shooting, a shootout between rival gangs that resulted in the death of 15-year-old bystander Jane Creba on December 26, 2005 on Yonge Street, and a mall food court shooting at the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012, which left two dead and injured seven others, including a 13-year-old boy. Hassan was considered to be the targeted victim and is considered to be gang-affiliated while others were considered innocent bystanders.

Brampton

Known crime groups in Brampton include mainly South Asian and Black gangs but there are a few White, Portuguese, and Filipino gangs in the city. Members in Springdale Punjabi Gang 80% were Punjabi, 15% Pakistani, 5% Tamil. Most areas are claimed by the Punjabi gangs. Racial tensions between gang members in the city are mostly between South Asians and Blacks with less extent with Afghans battling with Pakistanis.

Scarborough

There are dozens of tribes of gangs in Scarborough, but the most common ones that are seen are the Afghan street gangs, Tamil street gangs, Chinese street gangs, and West Indian (Caribbean) street gangs. Another very famous gang in scarborough is called the "Shadows" who's leader is one who goes by the name of 'Uberwala'.

Metro Vancouver

According to law enforcement agencies, the most significant crime groups in Vancouver are the motorcycle gangs (such as the Hells Angels), East Asian street gangs (mostly Vietnamese drug gangs/Asian-Chinese Triads), and Indo-Canadian street gangs, although others exist (mainly Eastern European, Persian, or Italian Based groups) Other minor crime groups quite often Mexican drug cartels, and Aboriginal street gangs are also seen in the metro area. However, in recent years, "multicultural" street gangs have grown significantly in power and prominence, and have attained much media attention due to their involvement in numerous shootings and slayings throughout the city, including the 2009 Vancouver gang war.

According to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia the ethnicities of people who died from a total of 160 gang related deaths in British Columbia between January 2006 to March 2014 were:

▸ Caucasian (74 victims; 46.3%)

▸ Indian (34 victims; 21.3%)

▸ East Asian (33 victims; 20.6%)

▸ Middle Eastern (10 victims; 6.3%)

▸ First Nations (6 victims; 3.8%)

▸ Hispanic (3 victims; 1.9%)

▸ African/Caribbean (0 victims; 0%)

Surrey

Major crime groups in the city are the South Asian street gangs, East Asian street gangs, biker gangs. Gangs have operated in Surrey, leading to an increase in the murder rate, although this almost ceased; the police claimed this was because the perpetrators had left the country. Most gangs within the city today battle out in Surrey's Newton community, predominantly but inexclusively amongst the South Asian community.

Burnaby

Criminal gangs in Burnaby are composed of elements of most ethnic groupings within Vancouver.

Winnipeg

Winnipeg's gang activity consists heavily of Aboriginal criminals, with a smaller number of other ethnic groups namely European, East Asian (Filipino/Vietnamese) and African gangs; it has been described as the Aboriginal gang capital of Canada.

See also

• Crime in Canada

References

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Further reading

• William O'Grady (2011). Crime in Canadian Context: Debates and Controversies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-543378-4.

External links

• The Nature of Canadian Urban Gangs and their use of Firearms: A Review of the Literature and Police Survey - Department of Justice

• Gangs in Canada
• Crime in Canada