Alberta city has third-highest crime rate of all Canadian metros
A city in Alberta has landed pretty high 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 five per cent in 2025, marking the second consecutive annual decrease, following an upward trend beginning in 2015 that reached 81.27 in 2023.
The decline in the overall CSI in 2025 reflected decreases in the violent CSI (down fourĀ per cent) and the non-violent CSI (down fiveĀ per cent). While both recorded similar percentage-point decreases, non-violent crimes continued to account for a larger share (63 per cent) of the CSI.
Police reported 672 homicides in 2025, 125 fewer than a year earlier. This represented 1.61 homicides per 100,000 population, down 16 per cent from 1.93 in 2024. It was the largest year-over-year decline since 1986, resulting in the lowest rate since 2014.
Alberta as a whole has a CSI value of 9o.6, higher than the national average of 75; 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 CSI values in Canada at 114.4, with a crime rate of 10,592 per 100,000 population. Despite it ranking as the third-highest in the country, it was, however, a one per cent drop in the crime rate from the year prior.
That is well above the national crime rate of 5,585, while other spots in Alberta, like Edmonton and Calgary, landed at 7,463 and 5,038, respectively. Edmonton saw a two per cent change in its crime rate from the year before, while Calgary saw a five per cent increase.
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The CMA with the highest crime rate in 2025 was Chilliwack, B.C., with a CSI of 134.3.
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.