List of massacres in Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of events in Canada and its predecessors that are commonly characterized as massacres. Massacre is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people or (less commonly) animals; carnage, butchery, slaughter in numbers"; it also states that the term is used "in the names of certain massacres of history".[1]

List

Name Date Location Dead/Injured/ Captives Mechanism of injury Perpetrator suicide Notes
Beaver Wars July 1609 – August 4, 1701 Great Lakes region Unknown Also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars.
Lachine massacre August 5, 1689 Lachine, Quebec 24–250 Tomahawk,[2] fire and other unspecified weapons No Part of King William's War
Massacre Island, Ontario June 6, 1736 Lake of the Woods 21 Arrows and various edged weapons including knives No There is some dispute about which island in Lake of the Woods was the actual site of the massacre.
Battle at Port-la-Joye July 11, 1746 Port-la-Joye, Île Saint-Jean. The location now known as Hillsborough River (Prince Edward Island). 34 / 0 Unknown No Acadian and Mi'kmaqs killed 34 unarmed British (27 soldiers and 7 sailors). Part of King George's War
Battle of Grand Pré February 10, 1747 Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia 67 / 0 / 40 Flintlock muskets, bayonets and various close-quarters weapons No Acadian and Mi'kmaqs took est. 40 prisoners after attack. Part of King George's War
Raid on Dartmouth May 13, 1751 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia 7–20 / 0 / 6–14 Miscellaneous including various edged weapons No One of seven raids by Mi'kmaqs on British and New England forces, usually very violent with deaths and scalpings. Part of Father Le Loutre's War
St. Francis Raid October 4, 1759 Odanak, Quebec 30–200 / unk / 7–20 Military arms including muskets, bayonets and tomahawks No Raid by Robert Rogers' Rangers, which was pursued and depleted before crossing back into New England. Part of Seven Years' War
Bloody Falls massacre July 17, 1771 The location now known as Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park near Kugluktuk, Nunavut 20 Various small arms including knives and other edged weapons No Alleged massacre of a group of Copper Inuit by Matonabbee and his accompanying party of Dene, witnessed by Samuel Hearne.
Chilcotin War April 30, 1864 Bute Inlet, British Columbia 19 Firearms including rifles No Massacre of 14 employees of Alfred Waddington by various Tŝilhqot'in people who had been working on road construction without compensation for two years.
Cypress Hills Massacre June 1, 1873 Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan 23 Official, Estimated 200 Firearm No Mass murder perpetrated by American bison and wolf hunters, and American and Canadian whisky traders and cargo haulers, against a camp of Assiniboine people. One of the main contributing reasons for the formation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Black Donnellys massacre February 4, 1880 Lucan Biddulph, Ontario 5 Firearms, pitchfork, axe, shovel, clubs and a wooden stake No Murder of five members of the Donnelly family by an armed mob, after which their farm was burned down. The event was the culmination of long-standing conflict between the family and other residents. None of the mob were ever convicted.
Frog Lake Massacre April 2, 1885 Frog Lake, Alberta 9 Firearms No Part of the North-West Rebellion
Mass shooting Smoky Lake, Alberta October 22, 1930 Smoky Lake, Alberta 5 Firearms (shotgun) No Four members of the Walanski family and neighbour Wasyl Darichuk were killed. George Dwernychuk hanged March 3, 1931, Provincial Jail, Ft. Saskatchewan[3]
Knights of Columbus Hostel fire December 12, 1942 Knights of Columbus Hostel, St. John's, Newfoundland 99 / 109 Fire No 99 civilians and military personnel perished in the Knights of Columbus Hostel fire in St. John's, Newfoundland. The fire was likely an incidence of enemy sabotage carried out by Nazi agents.
CPA Flight 108 bombing September 9, 1949 Cap Tourmente, Quebec 23 dynamite time bomb Failed attempt by one of the conspirators Whole plane destroyed to kill one of the conspirators' wife (so he could marry his mistress) and obtain life insurance money.
Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 July 8, 1965 Cariboo, British Columbia 52 Bomb Unknown Unsolved airplane bombing.
Buffalo Narrows axe slayings January 30, 1969[4] Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan 7 / 1 Axe No Seven members of the Pederson family were killed with an axe in their beds by a schizophrenic man, Frederick Moses McCallum.[5]
Blue Bird Café fire September 1, 1972 Montreal, Quebec 37 Fire No The Blue Bird Café fire was a nightclub fire on September 1, 1972, in Montreal, Quebec. In all, 37 people were killed as a result of arson.
Gargantua Nightclub Assassinations January 21, 1975 Montreal, Quebec 13 Gunshots, Fire No Part of a gangland feud between West End Gang and Italian Mafia.[6]
Lennoxville massacre March 24, 1985 Lennoxville, Quebec 5 Firearm No Part of the Quebec Biker war, 4 convicted of first degree murder
École Polytechnique massacre December 6, 1989 Montreal, Quebec 15 (including the perpetrator) / 14 Firearm Yes Marc Lépine killed 14 women and injured 14 others (10 women and 4 men), before taking his own life.[7] The attack lasted for 20 minutes and was the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history at the time.[8]
Concordia University massacre August 24, 1992 Montreal, Quebec 4 / 1 Firearm No School shooting. 4 killed, 1 injured.[9]
Giant Mine Murders (Royal Oak Mines Labour Dispute) September 18, 1992 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories 9 Bombing No Bombing during labour dispute. One of Canada's deadliest mass murders.[10][11]
Vernon massacre April 6, 1996 Vernon, British Columbia 9 / 2 Multiple firearms Yes Estranged husband murdered wedding party.[12][13]
Shedden massacre April 8, 2006 Shedden, Ontario 8 Multiple firearms No Gang killing of own gang members.
2014 Edmonton shooting December 29, 2014 Edmonton, Alberta 9 (including the perpetrator) Firearm Yes 53-year-old Phu Lam murders his ex-wife and six relatives on December 29, the worst mass murder in Edmonton's history
2014 Calgary stabbing April 15, 2014 Calgary, Alberta 5 Knife No Five people stabbed to death at a house party by Matthew de Grood during a psychotic episode.
Quebec City mosque shooting January 29, 2017 Quebec City, Quebec 6 / 19 Multiple firearms No Islamophobic attack on the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City by Alexandre Bissonnette. Ultimately, charges of terrorism were not brought forth as Bissonnette had acted independently of a terrorist organization.[14]
Toronto van attack April 23, 2018 Toronto, Ontario 11 / 15 Vehicle No A van was driven along a Yonge Street sidewalk on April 23, 2018, by Alek Minassian. At least 26 were injured, including 11 fatally.[15][16]
2020 Nova Scotia attacks April 18, 2020 Multiple locations, Nova Scotia 23 (including the perpetrator) / 3 Multiple firearms, fire No Perpetrator Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings using illegal firearms and set fires at 16 locations in Nova Scotia, killing 13 with firearms and 9 in fires (22 people total) and injuring three others over span of two days before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) shot and killed him in Enfield, NS. It is the deadliest shooting in Canadian history.[17]
London, Ontario truck attack June 6, 2021 London, Ontario 4 / 1 Vehicle No A terrorist attack occurred on June 6, 2021, when a vehicle was used to strike a Muslim family at the intersection of Hyde Park and South Carriage roads, south of Gainsborough Road. The suspect is 20-year-old London resident Nathaniel Veltman. Four died, one was injured.[18]
2022 Saskatchewan stabbings September 4, 2022 James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan 12 (including the perpetrator) / 18 Multiple knives Yes On September 4, 2022, 28 people were stabbed, ten of whom were killed, in at least thirteen locations in the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada.[19] One suspect, Damien Sanderson, who was later reclassified as a victim,[20] was found dead near one of the stabbing locations on September 5, 2022.[21] The perpetrator, Myles Sanderson, was apprehended on September 7, 2022, near Rosthern, Saskatchewan and died later from overdosing on cocaine.[22][23]
2022 Vaughan shooting December 18, 2022 Vaughan, Ontario 6 (including the perpetrator) / 1 Firearm No On December 18, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at the Bellaria Residences condominium tower in Vaughan, a suburb north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Six people were killed, including the gunman, 73-year-old Francesco Villi, who was shot and killed by responding police officers. Another person was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
2024 Ottawa stabbing March 6, 2024 Ottawa, Ontario 6 / 1 'Knife-like' edged weapon No On March 6, 2024, six people were stabbed to death and one was injured in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa.[24]
2025 Vancouver car attack April 26, 2025 Vancouver, British Columbia 11 / 32+ Vehicle No On April 26, a car was driven into a crowd at Lapu-Lapu day, an annual festival for Filipino Canadians in Vancouver.[25]
2026 Tumbler Ridge shooting February 10, 2026 Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia 9 (including the peretrator) / 27 Mass shooting Yes School shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

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