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Quebec provincial police are reporting a significant increase in intimate partner violence cases, though they say it does not necessarily mean more violence is occurring.
“I believe more people feel comfortable reporting those situations,” said Lt. Caroline Girard, co-ordinator of the Sûreté du Québec’s intimate partner violence division.
Police say their interventions in cases of intimate partner violence have risen sharply over the past decade. According to SQ figures, the number of criminal cases opened in a conjugal violence context has nearly tripled, from about 4,266 in 2015 to 12,822 in 2024.
These figures were first reported by La Presse.
Sharp increases were especially noted after 2020, a trend authorities link to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in reporting practices and policy updates.
In 2025, between January and November, police opened 8,989 files — already on pace to match or exceed the previous year’s total. Since 2015, about 90,000 intimate partner violence dossiers involving at least one criminal offence have been recorded.
Between 2015 and 2025, 72 police investigations were opened into the killing of women in a conjugal context, with annual totals ranging from three to 10 cases. Seven cases were recorded in 2025.
Support lines, women’s shelters and Quebec provincial police say calls and reports of conjugal violence have jumped over the past year. Those who work with victims of intimate partner violence say they need more assistance.
The figures reflect SQ investigations into murders of women by current or former partners and are not final confirmed totals.
In a joint statement earlier this week, two provincial ministers said that four women have been killed in Quebec in a context of intimate partner violence in the first few weeks of 2026.
Organization sees uptick in calls
An organization that offers support to victims of intimate partner violence, SOS violence conjugale, says it has also seen an uptick in calls.
There were fewer than 25,000 calls per year in 2018. Last year, there were more than 60,000. The demand for housing from victims has also jumped, from around 7,000 in 2020 to 19,000 in 2025, the organization says in its 2024-25 report.
“A lot of women talk to us and they say, ‘I really want to leave but I don’t see how I’ll be able to manage to find adequate housing for myself and my children.’ That’s a big enough hurdle to stop you for a while, and danger increases as time goes on,” said Claudine Thibaudeau, clinical co-ordinator with SOS violence conjugale.
Thibaudeau said the fact that people are aware of the signs of intimate partner violence is a good thing, but with the increase in calls for help, that also means that social workers are overloaded with work.
She said their success rate in helping callers has dropped nearly 30 per cent in five years.
More demand than ever
According to the report by SOS violence conjugale, which stresses there was more demand for help than ever before, executive director Jocelyne Jolin says it was also a year of “less than ever” because there just wasn’t nearly enough housing to offer those in need.
“That is why we are more committed than ever to ensuring every victim of conjugal violence can access the resources needed to escape and recover, more driven than ever to safeguard victims and their children and more determined than ever to carry out our vital mission,” she wrote.
Frédérique Bilodeau is a spokesperson for La Méridienne, a women’s shelter for victims of intimate partner violence and their children. She said there is a need to expand services to meet the demand.
She said her shelter is forced to turn down people looking for help, sending them to other organizations farther away from their home.
“If we say no, we still arrange to have a safety net around them,” she said.
Thibaudeau believes despite the spike in calls, many more people who need help are still not reaching out. She said that each woman who is killed in intimate partner violence is not an individual tragedy, rather a collective societal failure.
“Each and every one of us is part of the solution,” she said.
