Photo: Grant Berg · CC BY-SA 3.0Birch Hills County records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
Its Crime Severity Index averaged 96 over 2023–2025, against 67.2 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Birch Hills County reported put it at C− for safety. Out of every 1,000 residents, 13.2 violent incidents and 44.3 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. In 2023 the index stood at 101; it fell to 90.1 in 2025.
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 Fairview detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Birch Hills County
Mischief: high for a town its size
Birch Hills County records 14.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Birch Hills County’s two halves part ways: 62 for violence (typical 86.4) and 110.5 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Near the Alberta middle
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Birch Hills County, 96. Towns its size ↓
Less crime solved
Police cleared 26% of Birch Hills County’s crime, weighted by seriousness (56% of violent crime, 19% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The C− for Birch Hills County, and how it is built
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Birch Hills County itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 42 km away.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Birch Hills County’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Birch Hills County runs highest on mischief (14.2 per 1,000 against 4.2), break and enter (8.2 per 1,000 against 2.5) and motor vehicle theft (3.8 per 1,000 against 2.4). 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 | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 65.7 | 8.2 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 16.7 | 2.1 | 20% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 30.7 | 3.8 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 1.2 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 68.7 | 8.6 | 11% |
| Mischief | 113.7 | 14.2 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 35 | 4.4 | 60% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.3 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 11 | 1.4 | 39% |
| Impaired driving | 20.7 | 2.6 | 66% |
| 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 people or more.
Birch Hills County, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (101); 2025 was the lightest, at 90.1. In the same years the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ read 70.6 (2023), then 62.9 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Birch Hills County | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 97 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 101 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Birch Hills County, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
The detachment nearest Birch Hills County, 8,040 residents: around 110 violent incidents a year, 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 350 property crimes, plus 130 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 Birch Hills County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch Hills County | 1,522 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Fairview (37 km) | 2,918 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Fairview No. 136 (37 km) | 1,647 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| Smoky River No. 130 (47 km) | 1,941 | 91.3 | 73 | C |
| Grimshaw (49 km) | 2,799 | 96 | 62 | C− |
The table leaves out 3 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Birch Hills County has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 37–49 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Birch Hills County
Is Birch Hills County safe?
With 13.2 violent incidents and 44.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Birch Hills County comes to 96 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more have a median of 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Birch Hills County?
Mischief is the most common, at 14.2 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (10.1) and theft under $5,000 (8.6).
Is crime going up in Birch Hills County?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 11%, to 90.1 from 101.
How much of Birch Hills County’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 26% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+); split up, that is 56% of violent and 19% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Birch Hills County 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).