Gangland slayings pushed up Canada's otherwise declining murder rate by two percent last year, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The government agency said police reported 611 homicides in Canada in 2008, 17 more than the previous year.

The rise was "due almost entirely" to murders in western British Columbia and Alberta provinces - much of which was gang-related - said the government agency.

After peaking in the mid-1970s, Canada's murder rate generally declined until 1999. Since then it has been relatively stable.

Homicides linked to organized crime groups or street gangs, however, have been on the rise since the early 1990s and now account for almost one in four murders in Canada.

Police reported 138 "gang-related" homicides in 2008 or 20 more than in 2007. Most of the killings involved firearms.

Canadian homicides committed with a firearm had also been declining from the mid-1970s to 2002, but have increased by 24 percent since then, said Statistics Canada.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to quell a surge in violence in Vancouver in time for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. His government unveiled stiffer penalties for gangland crimes in February.

According the Justice Department, there are an estimated 900 organized criminal groups operating in Canada.