Two Alberta cities rank wildly high on new Crime Severity Index list

If you thought crime in some spots in Alberta was high, you weren’t imagining it — a new report has revealed two cities are well above the national average.

According to police-reported crime statistics in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), crime increased for the second consecutive year, up 4% in 2022

Most provinces and territories recorded increases in the CSI from 2021 to 2022, with the exceptions of New Brunswick (-2%), Yukon (-5%), and Nunavut (-4%).

The index for Canada was 78.1, with Calgary slightly below the national average at 75.2, followed by Edmonton at 100.4, and then Lethbridge with a whopping index of 119.

Only two other spots in Canada bested Lethbridge on the Crime Severity Index, with Winnipeg landing with an index of 136.6 and Kelowna with 128.

Vancouver produced an index of 92.4, while Toronto and Montreal put up an index of 51.9 and 61.4, respectively.

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Statistics Canada says Crime Severity Indexes are based on Criminal Code incidents, including traffic offences, as well as other federal statute violations. Populations are based on July 1 estimates from Statistics Canada’s Centre for Demography.

Police reported 874 homicides in 2022, 78 more than the year before with the homicide rate increasing 8% from 2021, marking the highest rate since 1992. The national increase was largely the result of more homicides in BC (+30 homicides), Manitoba (+26 homicides), and Quebec (+20 homicides).

You can check out the full report here.