How Should Police Track Missing Persons Data?

Official title: Missing persons data standards consultative engagement

Closed Policy & Studies Indigenous & Northern Justice & Rights
Statistics Canada wants to improve how police collect information about missing and murdered people—especially Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals. Right now, data collection varies across police services, making it hard to spot patterns or build prevention strategies. This consultation gathered input to create national standards for police reporting.

Why This Matters

When someone goes missing, inconsistent police data can slow down searches and hide patterns. Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people are disproportionately affected. Better data standards could help find missing people faster and prevent future tragedies.

What Could Change

Police services across Canada may be required to collect standardized information on missing persons cases. This could include consistent categories for Indigenous identity, gender identity, and vulnerability factors. The goal is regular national reporting that tracks trends over time.

Key Issues

  • What information should police consistently collect about missing persons?
  • How can data standards better capture Indigenous identity and 2SLGBTQQIA+ status?
  • What reporting mechanisms would enable national tracking and prevention strategies?

How to Participate

  1. This consultation is now closed. Organizations and governments participated through virtual group discussions, written submissions, and online forms.

What Happened

Statistics Canada engaged with National Indigenous Organizations, other Indigenous organizations and governments, federal, provincial, and territorial government departments, and non-governmental organizations representing marginalized populations across three phases. Summary results will be published online when available.

Key Documents