Photo: awmcphee · CC BY-SA 4.0Barrhead sees more crime per resident than seven in ten Canadian towns
The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 81.9 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Measured on crime the police covering Barrhead reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C: #196 of 474 in Alberta. On top of that, typical years here bring 14.9 violent incidents plus 36.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.9 plus 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Barrhead detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Barrhead
Lighter than in 2023
From 103.6 in 2023 to 69.5 in 2025: that is Barrhead’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Barrhead records 5.6 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 ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Barrhead stands 32nd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Alberta
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 81.9 in Barrhead. 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 Barrhead’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: #196 of 474 in Alberta and #1,745 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Barrhead’s index dropped 33%
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 103.6 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 69.5. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Barrhead | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 69.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 72.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 103.6 | 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 Barrhead, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Barrhead’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Barrhead runs highest on break and enter (5.6 per 1,000 against 2.8), motor vehicle theft (4.4 per 1,000 against 2.6) and fraud (5.8 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 64.7 | 5.6 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 18 | 1.5 | 32% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 51 | 4.4 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 13.7 | 1.2 | 5% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 139.7 | 12 | 17% |
| Mischief | 63.7 | 5.5 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 58.7 | 5 | 82% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.3 | 0.9 | 68% |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 0.8 | 57% |
| Impaired driving | 9.3 | 0.8 | 57% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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.
By its index, Barrhead stands 32nd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Raymond Alberta | 4,594 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 63.5 | 42.7 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Jasper Alberta | 4,627 | 67.7 | 60.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Rivière-Rouge Quebec | 4,882 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 30 | Hampton New Brunswick | 4,754 | 74.5 | 74.9 | C+ |
| 31 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| 32 | Barrhead Alberta | 4,768 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| 33 | Cumberland County, Subdivision D Nova Scotia | 4,692 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| 34 | Kindersley Saskatchewan | 4,740 | 95.9 | 83.7 | C− |
| 35 | Central Okanagan British Columbia | 4,784 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| 36 | Cardston County Alberta | 4,938 | 108 | 123.7 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | 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 Barrhead in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 170 violent incidents a year in the 11,800-resident police area around Barrhead, 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 420 a year and other violations 140 (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 Barrhead
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrhead | 4,768 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| Barrhead County No. 11 (9 km) | 6,186 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| Westlock County (32 km) | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| Lac Ste. Anne County (36 km) | 12,639 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| Westlock (37 km) | 5,363 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
Barrhead has the lowest index of the places around it. Sharing its police with one neighbour, it shares that neighbour’s figure as well, so the neighbour isn’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 9–37 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Barrhead.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- How serious, not how safe. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Barrhead together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Barrhead
Is Barrhead safe?
Barrhead’s Crime Severity Index is 81.9 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 14.9 violent incidents and 36.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Barrhead?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 12, other Criminal Code offences at 9.8 and assault at 6.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Barrhead?
The reverse: 103.6 in 2023 came down to 69.5 by 2025, 33% lower.
How much of Barrhead’s crime do police solve?
38%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 74% and non-violent crime at 25%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Barrhead and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).