Photo: Yoshio Kohara · CC BY 3.0Crime in Banff sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Police cleared 45% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size. Weighing it all, Banff earns B− for safety (#26 of 474 in Alberta), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Typical years here bring 15.9 violent incidents plus 36.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 30.5 in the typical town its size. Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 64.9 to 60.5.
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.
What stands out about safety in Banff
Crime per resident, visitors uncounted
Rates in Banff are per resident, while much of the crime involves the many visitors it draws; the figures overstate what residents themselves face. How to read it ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Banff records 12 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Lower than most of Alberta
Set among Alberta’s towns, whose median is 110, Banff scores 63. Towns its size ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Banff is 24th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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 Banff’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: #26 of 474 in Alberta and #951 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Banff, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Banff runs highest on mischief (12 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (1.6 per 1,000 against 0.8) and sexual assault (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.8). Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 14.3 | 1.3 | 49% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 0.5 | 57% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6.7 | 0.6 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 0.9 | 28% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 165.3 | 15 | 38% |
| Mischief | 132.3 | 12 | 38% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 19.7 | 1.8 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 15.3 | 1.4 | 48% |
| Drug violations | 17.7 | 1.6 | 58% |
| Impaired driving | 44.7 | 4.1 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Banff, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (64.9); 2025 was the lightest, at 60.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Banff | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 63.5 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 64.9 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Banff, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Banff is 24th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Marieville Quebec | 11,910 | 55 | 88.5 | B |
| 22 | Penetanguishene Ontario | 11,141 | 56.4 | 92 | B |
| 23 | Morden Manitoba | 11,578 | 61.9 | 42.6 | B− |
| 24 | Banff Alberta | 11,402 | 63 | 74.8 | B− |
| 25 | Chester Nova Scotia | 11,740 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 26 | West St. Paul Manitoba | 10,796 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 27 | Farnham Quebec | 11,315 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Lacombe County Alberta | 11,072 | 94.9 | 66.9 | C− |
| 32 | Lethbridge County Alberta | 10,988 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Yellowhead County Alberta | 10,966 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 39 | Clearwater County Alberta | 11,856 | 188.3 | 342.3 | D |
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Banff in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 170 violent incidents a year on Banff’s police records (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.
And about 410 property crimes, plus 210 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Banff
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banff | 11,402 | 63 | 74.8 | B− |
| Canmore (19 km) | 17,341 | 50.1 | 41.1 | B+ |
| Bighorn No. 8 (31 km) | 1,857 | 70.3 | 40.9 | C+ |
| Electoral Area G, East Kootenay (66 km) | 1,952 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| Radium Hot Springs (71 km) | 1,489 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| Cochrane (76 km) | 39,397 | 39.7 | 38.9 | A |
2 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Banff. Just 19.4 km away, Canmore comes to 50.1, against 63.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Banff with figures are 19–76 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Banff
Is Banff safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Banff scores 63 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 15.9 violent and 36.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Banff?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 15 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 12.6 and mischief at 12.
Is crime going up in Banff?
No: the index fell 7%, from 64.9 in 2023 to 60.5 in 2025.
How much of Banff’s crime do police solve?
45%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 56% and non-violent crime at 39%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Banff’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).