Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainBonnyville records more crime per resident than 95% of Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Bonnyville reported put it at D for safety: #464 of 474 in Alberta. Police counts work out at 46.6 violent incidents and 188.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Of the two halves, violence comes to 211.4 and other offences to 317.4, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Bonnyville
Mischief: high for a town its size
Bonnyville records 108.7 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 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, Bonnyville moved from 340.2 to 227.2, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Heavier than Alberta’s middle
Bonnyville’s index of 285.4 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Bonnyville scores 211.4 for violence and 317.4 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Bonnyville’s D
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: #464 of 474 in Alberta and #2,522 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.
Bonnyville’s index fell 33% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (340.2); 2025 was the lightest, at 227.2. 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 | Bonnyville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 227.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 288.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 340.2 | 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 Bonnyville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Bonnyville, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Bonnyville runs highest on mischief (108.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (4.7 per 1,000 against 0.7) and break and enter (16.3 per 1,000 against 2.8).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 0.8 | 53% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 8.3 | 1.2 | 81% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 115.7 | 16.3 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 42.3 | 6 | 28% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 98.3 | 13.9 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 16 | 2.3 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 197.7 | 27.8 | 14% |
| Mischief | 771.7 | 108.7 | 42% |
| Weapons violations | 17.7 | 2.5 | 77% |
| Administration of justice violations | 126 | 17.9 | 82% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 18 | 2.5 | 44% |
| Drug violations | 33 | 4.7 | 34% |
| Impaired driving | 54.7 | 7.7 | 56% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Bonnyville comes 40th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 31 | Brazeau County Alberta | 7,685 | 130 | 92.3 | D |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Athabasca County Alberta | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| 36 | Slave Lake Alberta | 7,334 | 186.1 | 153.9 | D |
| 37 | Hope British Columbia | 7,183 | 208.1 | 173 | D |
| 38 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 254.7 | 229 | D |
| 39 | Merritt British Columbia | 7,190 | 270.6 | 338.1 | D |
| 40 | Bonnyville Alberta | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | 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 Bonnyville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 330 violent incidents a year reached Bonnyville’s police, 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 1,330 property crimes, plus 400 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 Bonnyville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnyville | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | D |
| Bonnyville No. 87 (8 km) | 13,265 | 197.6 | 183.7 | D |
| Cold Lake (39 km) | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | D |
| Elk Point (42 km) | 1,481 | 309.8 | 440.4 | D− |
| St. Paul County No. 19 (43 km) | 6,462 | 352.9 | 639.7 | D− |
| St. Paul (48 km) | 6,218 | 364.7 | 364.4 | D− |
2 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Bonnyville. Just 7.8 km away, Bonnyville No. 87 comes to 197.6, against 285.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Bonnyville with figures are 8–48 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Bonnyville
Is Bonnyville safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Bonnyville scores 285.4 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 46.6 violent and 188 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Bonnyville?
Most often it is mischief: 108.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 40.2 and theft under $5,000 at 27.8.
Is crime going up in Bonnyville?
Down 33%: 340.2 in 2023, 227.2 in 2025.
How much of Bonnyville’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 64% of violent crime and 29% of everything else, 37% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Bonnyville’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).