2025 Fast Fact Sheet

List of Figures

Figure 1: Number of missing persons subjects by year, age group and sex
Figure 2: Number of open missing persons subjects by probable cause, as of 2025-12-31

List of tables

Table 1: MC/PUR missing adult subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025
Table 2: MC/PUR missing child subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025

Summary

The overall number of persons who went missing decreased by 1% in 2025, from 69,152 subjects in 2024 to 68,349 in 2025, bringing the total number to 8% lower than it was pre-COVID (i.e. 2019). Figure 1 highlights that the most dramatic impact observed during the pandemic was on the number of missing children (under 18 years of age), where the number of missing children has still not yet risen back to pre-COVID levels. The number of missing adults has been above the 2019 levels for the past four years. While missing female adults have exceeded 2019 numbers since 2022, missing male adults did not exceed their 2019 numbers this year, with 512 fewer subjects.

Figure 1: Number of missing persons subjects by year, age group and sex

Text version

**Number of missing persons subjects by year, age group and sex**
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Female child	23,015	19,319	16,766	17,492	20,696	19,093	20,221
Female adult	14,175	13,024	13,999	14,674	15,259	15,867	14,996
Male child	17,491	12,765	11,356	13,460	13,848	13,697	14,001
Male adult	19,236	17,298	17,998	19,768	21,059	19,974	18,724

Figure 2 highlights missing person subjects in occurrences that remain open as of December 31, 2025 from all previous years, by probable cause. The oldest open occurrence dates back to 1919. The data in this Figure, when compared to annual statistics in the tables, illustrates that certain types of occurrences may be resolved quicker than others. Only 540 (1%) of people who went missing in 2025 were still missing on the day the data for this report was extracted (February 2nd, 2026).

Figure 2: Number of open missing persons subjects by probable cause, as of 2025-12-31

Text version

**Number of open missing persons subjects by probable cause, as of 2025-12-31**
Human trafficking (0.02%)	Abducted by relative (0.2%)	Parental abduction, no custody order (1%)	Parental abduction, custody order (2%)	Abduction by a stranger (2%)	Wandered off, lost (8%)	Presumed Dead (10%)	Other (10%)	Runaway (10%)	Accident (23%)	Unknown (35%)	Total
2	17	83	125	139	677	797	805	851	1,891	2,942	8,329

Introduction

The National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) 2025 Fast Fact Sheet provides a national breakdown of missing persons by province, age (child or adult), sex (female, male, other or unknown), and probable cause. It has been prepared using numbers generated by the national Missing Children/Persons and Unidentified Remains (MC/PUR) database, which provides the necessary data and tools to coordinate a national approach to these investigations. MC/PUR includes occurrences which are currently open, and concluded occurrences that were open any time after May 16, 2014.

The data in MC/PUR is derived from missing persons transactions in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC). Therefore, it is limited by the quality and types of data that agencies enter into CPIC and the techniques used by MC/PUR to compile that data. Not all people who go missing are necessarily reported to police, and not all cases reported to police are entered onto CPIC (especially those that are resolved quickly ^{Footnote 1}) but the numbers here are unable to represent those. CPIC transactions include repeat runaways and other situations where a single instance of a missing person may be entered and deleted multiple times over a period of time. MC/PUR uses algorithms in an attempt to identify and eliminate duplicate data and produce more accurate statistics. For this report, each incident for each person is counted as a missing person, but the algorithms avoid counting double entries for the same incident for the same person. An occurrence is considered as belonging to the year 2025 based on the person’s reported “Date Last Seen”. The numbers reported herein reflect a “point in time” and can change if records for 2025 cases are added, modified, or flagged as duplicate. The majority of the MC/PUR reports used for this Fast Fact Sheet were generated on February 2, 2026.

It is also important to note that in terms of probable cause, there is subjectivity in the original CPIC data that populates MC/PUR and it may not be consistently completed by agencies nor maintained as a case evolves and more becomes known.

One hundred and thirty-six (136) missing adults were not included in the adult subjects table as there was no probable cause entered. It is not possible to determine for any one case if the mandatory SEX field in CPIC is capturing biological sex or gender identity, except perhaps for 102 individuals where the recently added value “Other” was used. Since they represent a small percentage of the overall numbers (0.3%), they have not been included in the table below. Of these 102 missing adults of “Other” sex, 20 adults (20%) had the probable cause of runaway, four (4) adults (4%) had wandered off, and 78 adults (76%) were either unknown or other probable cause.

Thirty-three (33) missing children were not included in the child subjects table as there was no probable cause entered. Additionally, 305 missing children (1% of the overall number) were not included in the table as the sex was “Other.” Of these 305 missing children of “Other” sex, 234 (77%) had the probable cause of runaway, three (3) (1%) had wandered off, one (0.3%) had the probable cause of parental abduction/no custody order, and 67 (22%) were either unknown or other probable cause.

While the NCMPUR anticipates that future Fast Fact Sheets will be in a similar format to the one produced this year, the methodology and categories may change in future years and retroactive comparisons to previous years may not be possible. It is important to note that this year’s Fast Facts Figures 1 and 2, and the Summary discussion used missing person counts rather than number of occurrences as per previous years^{Footnote 2}.

This fact sheet has been compiled for NCMPUR by Strategic and Operational Services (SOS), Program Research and Development Unit (PRDU).

Fast fact sheet: MC/PUR missing adult subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025

**Table 1: MC/PUR missing adult subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025** ^{Table 1 note 1}
Provinces and territories (Population in 2025 ^{Table 1 note 2})	Abduction by stranger		Accident		Wandered off, lost		Parental abduction with custody order		Parental abduction without custody order		Abducted by relative		Runaway		Presumed dead		Human trafficking		Unknown		Other		Total
	Female	Male	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	Total
Alberta (5,040,871)	2	1	1	3	138	240	0	2	1	0	0	0	115	125	0	0	0	0	1,078	1,304	98	96	3,204
British Columbia (5,683,201)	4	10	9	34	477	682	4	2	1	1	1	0	463	410	3	5	2	1	4,859	5,313	903	890	14,074
Manitoba (1,507,057)	0	1	0	2	30	60	1	0	0	1	0	0	215	177	0	0	0	0	569	536	80	72	1,744
New Brunswick (868,630)	4	1	0	0	8	35	0	0	0	0	1	0	72	71	0	0	0	0	138	230	13	10	583
Newfoundland and Labrador (549,738)	1	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	0	2	0	0	62	66	6	18	170
Nova Scotia (1,091,857)	0	1	0	0	15	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0	0	0	0	47	76	37	66	269
Ontario (16,191,372)	1	5	5	13	229	497	3	1	1	1	4	3	509	626	3	10	19	1	2,099	2,724	298	480	7,532
Prince Edward Island (182,508)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	11	0	2	18
Quebec (9,058,089)	7	5	0	6	69	174	0	1	0	0	0	0	480	1,080	4	6	0	0	509	952	202	440	3,935
Saskatchewan (1,266,234)	4	2	0	0	45	45	0	0	0	0	1	0	340	290	0	0	0	0	561	592	30	50	1,960
Yukon (48,261)	0	0	0	0	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	17	21	3	4	53
Northwest Territories (45,848)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	15	15	3	1	39
Nunavut (41,919)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3
Total (41,575,585)	23	26	15	59	1,015	1,763	8	6	3	3	7	3	2,201	2,794	10	24	21	2	9,959	11,840	1,673	2,129	33,584
Fast facts 49% of all missing persons (all sexes, adults and children) were adults 55% of missing adults in 2025 were males 63% of adults who wandered off were males 33% of missing adult reports in 2025 were removed from CPIC within 24 hours, while 73% were removed within a week^{Table 1 note 3} In 2025, British Columbia had the highest number of missing adults per capita, with 249 missing adults per 100,000 people, followed by Saskatchewan with 156 missing adults per 100,000 people. Nunavut had the lowest, with seven (7) missing adults per 100,000 people^{Table 1 note 4} 13% of all missing adults in 2025 were Indigenous and 58% of all missing Indigenous adults were female. ^{Table 1 note 5}
Table 1 notes Table 1 note 1 Data subject to caveats outlined in page 2 to 3. Based on dates last seen. Return to table 1 note 1 referrer Table 1 note 2 The population represents quarter 4 of the 2025 Statistics Canada quarterly estimates. Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly. Retrieved from Population estimates, quarterly (statcan.gc.ca) on February 2, 2026. Return to table 1 note 2 referrer Table 1 note 3 Based on occurrence date. Return to table 1 note 3 referrer Table 1 note 4 The population used was the total population for Canada and the Provinces/Territories, and was not exclusive to the adult population. Return to table 1 note 4 referrer Table 1 note 5 Biological Affinity is not a comprehensive nor dependable attribute since it is under-reported. Twenty-three percent (23%) of all missing adults were inputted into CPIC as 'non-white', which could include Indigenous subjects. Fourteen (14%) had no biological affinity entered. Return to table 1 note 5 referrer

Fast fact sheet: MC/PUR missing child subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025

**Table 2: MC/PUR missing child subjects by province, sex and probable cause for 2025** ^{Table 2 note 1}
Provinces and territories (Population in 2025) ^{Table 2 note 2}	Abduction by stranger		Accident		Wandered off, lost		Parental abduction with custody order		Parental abduction without custody order		Abducted by relative		Runaway		Presumed dead		Human trafficking		Unknown		Other		Total
	Female	Male	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	Total
Alberta (5,040,871)	2	0	0	0	24	13	0	4	5	6	0	0	1,962	1,173	0	0	0	0	212	139	26	22	3,588
British Columbia (5,683,201)	0	1	2	3	134	80	8	6	7	10	0	0	1,452	699	0	1	1	0	2,208	1,029	584	250	6,475
Manitoba (1,507,057)	0	0	0	0	6	6	1	1	0	2	3	0	1,476	495	0	0	0	0	149	76	14	10	2,239
New Brunswick (868,630)	3	1	0	0	1	4	0	0	1	3	0	0	1,040	606	0	0	0	0	64	44	4	3	1,774
Newfoundland and Labrador (549,738)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	7	0	0	0	0	14	30	7	13	83
Nova Scotia (1,091,857)	0	0	0	1	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	195	273	0	1	0	0	13	11	12	2	516
Ontario (16,191,372)	1	0	0	1	26	24	3	6	7	3	2	4	2,711	1,592	2	2	99	2	1,153	729	368	212	6,947
Prince Edward Island (182,508)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	10
Quebec (9,058,089)	2	3	4	0	14	8	8	12	10	9	1	2	2,597	3,700	0	0	0	2	314	458	119	135	7,398
Saskatchewan (1,266,234)	0	0	0	1	19	13	1	0	2	0	0	0	2,445	1,601	0	0	0	0	606	413	25	10	5,136
Yukon (48,261)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	12
Northwest Territories (45,848)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	7
Nunavut (41,919)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	4
Total (41,575,585)	8	5	6	6	229	152	23	29	33	34	6	6	13,899	10,151	2	4	100	4	4,739	2,935	1,159	659	34,189
Fast facts 59% of all missing children in 2025 were female 57% of missing children reports in 2025 were removed from CPIC within 24 hours, while 91% were removed within a week^{Table 2 note 3} In 2025, Saskatchewan had the highest number of missing children per capita, with 413 missing children per 100,000 people, followed by New Brunswick with 204 missing children per 100,000 people. Prince Edward Island had the lowest, with five (5) missing children per 100,000 people^{Table 2 note 4} 78% of all missing children in 2025 were between the ages of 14-17. 70% of all missing children in 2025 were identified as runaways, 57% of whom were female 21% of missing children in 2025 were Indigenous and 69% of all missing Indigenous children were female. ^{Table 2 note 5}
Table 2 notes Table 2 note 1 Data subject to caveats outlined in pages 2-3. Based on dates last seen. Return to table 2 note 1 referrer Table 2 note 2 The population represents quarter 4 of the 2025 Statistics Canada quarterly estimates. Statistics Canada. Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly. Retrieved from Population estimates, quarterly (statcan.gc.ca) on February 2, 2026. Return to table 2 note 2 referrer Table 2 note 3 Based on occurrence date. Return to table 2 note 3 referrer Table 2 note 4 The population used was the total population for Canada and the Provinces/Territories, and was not exclusive to the child population. Return to table 2 note 4 referrer Table 2 note 5 Biological Affinity is not a comprehensive nor dependable attribute since it is under-reported. Twenty-two percent (22%) of all missing children were inputted into CPIC as 'non-white', which could include Indigenous subjects. Sixteen (16%) have no biological affinity indicated in the data. Return to table 2 note 5 referrer

Date modified:: 2026-03-18

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