Photo: Joli Rumi · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Athabasca County records more crime than nine in ten Canadian towns
Graded on crime the police covering Athabasca County reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety: #452 of 474 in Alberta. Annual rates stand at 24.1 violent incidents and 66.9 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Violence accounts for an index of 138.6 and other offences for 176.9, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 41%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Athabasca detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Athabasca County
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Athabasca County records 13.7 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Less severe than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Athabasca County moved from 184 to 133.6, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Over the Alberta norm
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Athabasca County, 165. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Athabasca County comes 34th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Athabasca County’s grade
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #452 of 474 in Alberta and #2,483 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Athabasca County, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Athabasca County runs highest on break and enter (13.7 per 1,000 against 2.8), mischief (19.7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and motor vehicle theft (8.9 per 1,000 against 2.6).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5 | 0.6 | 46% |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 119.3 | 13.7 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 36.3 | 4.2 | 33% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 77.3 | 8.9 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 19 | 2.2 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 109.7 | 12.6 | 20% |
| Mischief | 171 | 19.7 | 42% |
| Weapons violations | 11.3 | 1.3 | 91% |
| Administration of justice violations | 114 | 13.1 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 33.3 | 3.8 | 35% |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 1.1 | 40% |
| Impaired driving | 12.7 | 1.5 | 50% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 12 | 1.4 | 11% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
In Athabasca County, down 27% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (184); 2025 was the lightest, at 133.6. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Athabasca County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 133.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 177.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 184 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Athabasca County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Athabasca County stands 34th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Wainwright Alberta | 6,996 | 113 | 121.8 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 32 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| 33 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 7,129 | 146.8 | 215.2 | D |
| 34 | Athabasca County Alberta | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| 35 | Slave Lake Alberta | 7,334 | 186.1 | 153.9 | D |
| 36 | Hope British Columbia | 7,183 | 208.1 | 173 | D |
| 37 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 254.7 | 229 | D |
| … | |||||
| 39 | Bonnyville Alberta | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | D |
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Athabasca County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
8,740 residents, about 210 violent incidents a year: the police area Athabasca County belongs to, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Property crime adds about 580 a year and other violations 300 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Athabasca County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athabasca County | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| Athabasca (14 km) | 2,887 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| Thorhild County (54 km) | 3,147 | 167.5 | 126.8 | D |
| Smoky Lake (71 km) | 1,159 | 255 | 152.4 | D |
| Lac la Biche County (72 km) | 8,580 | 296.3 | 359.4 | D− |
| Westlock County (73 km) | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
1 of the 4 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Athabasca County. Just 73.1 km away, Westlock County comes to 129.8, against 165. One neighbour is on the same police service or detachment, so it shares the figure and isn’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Athabasca County has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–73 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Athabasca County’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Athabasca County
Is Athabasca County safe?
Police-reported crime in Athabasca County scores 165 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 24.1 violent incidents and 66.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Athabasca County?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 26.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 19.7 and assault at 14.7.
Is crime going up in Athabasca County?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 27%, to 133.6 from 184.
How much of Athabasca County’s crime do police solve?
About 41% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 82% of violent and 26% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Athabasca County and everywhere else it polices.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).