A city in Alberta almost leads the pack when it comes to crime rate among the largest urban areas in Canada, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), decreased four per cent in 2024, following three consecutive years of increases.
Non-violent crime had a significant impact on the decline in the overall CSI in 2024. The non-violent CSI — which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences — declined six per cent in 2024, following a nine per cent increase from 2021 to 2023.
Alberta as a whole has a CSI value of 95.6, higher than the national average of 77.9; however, it’s in line with neighbouring British Columbia and much lower than neighbouring Saskatchewan.
Statistics Canada
StatsCan says among the census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Red Deer has one of the highest crime rates in Canada, coming in at 10,650 per 100,000 population.
That is well above the national crime rate of 5,672, while other spots in Alberta, like Edmonton and Calgary, landed at 7,108 and 4,796, respectively.
The City of Red Deer/Facebook
The CMA with the highest crime rate in 2024 was Chilliwack, B.C.
The CSI looks at both the number and the relative severity of crimes. It was developed to complement the conventional crime rate and self-reported victimization data.
To determine severity, each crime is assigned a weight. CSI weights are based on the crime’s incarceration rate, as well as the average length of prison sentences handed down by criminal courts. More serious crimes are assigned higher weights, while less serious crimes are assigned lower weights. As a result, relative to their volume, more serious crimes have a greater impact on the index.
The full Statistics Canada data is available online.