Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Per resident, Downtown Commercial Core records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
A Crime Severity Index of 67.2, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 60.3 for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. In sum, crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025 put Downtown Commercial Core at B− (#33 of 474 in Alberta): close to the middle of Canadian towns. Still, for every 1,000 residents, 10.6 violent incidents and 31.9 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, the figures are 10.8 and 25.1.
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. Area behind the crime severity and crime rate figures: the Calgary service area.
What stands out about safety in Downtown Commercial Core
Easing since 2023
In 2023 the index in Downtown Commercial Core stood at 74.3, by 2025 at 62.9. Over the same years the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 to 59.2. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Downtown Commercial Core: B− for safety, and why
How sure: Not as firm as most grades, since the figure covers the entire city rather than Downtown Commercial Core alone.
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: #33 of 474 in Alberta and #1,144 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up Calgary’s figures
These are Calgary’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Calgary runs highest on robbery (0.8 per 1,000 against 0.4), motor vehicle theft (3 per 1,000 against 1.7) and break and enter (3.7 per 1,000 against 2.2). Fraud and sexual assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 20 | 0.01 | 70% |
| Sexual violations against children | 274.7 | 0.2 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 445.3 | 0.3 | 96% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 138.3 | 0.09 | 40% |
| Robbery | 1,191.7 | 0.8 | 36% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 128.3 | 0.08 | 75% |
| Other violent violations | 241.3 | 0.2 | 59% |
| Breaking and entering | 5,706.7 | 3.7 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 620 | 0.4 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4,568.7 | 3 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1,197.7 | 0.8 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 24,502.7 | 15.7 | 11% |
| Mischief | 5,863 | 3.8 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 862.7 | 0.6 | 93% |
| Administration of justice violations | 12,562 | 8.1 | 99% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 554 | 0.4 | 68% |
| Drug violations | 1,387 | 0.9 | 92% |
| Impaired driving | 106 | 0.07 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 124.3 | 0.08 | 41% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
Year by year in Downtown Commercial Core: down 15%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (74.3); the low point came in 2025, at 62.9. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Downtown Commercial Core | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 64.3 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 74.3 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Downtown Commercial Core, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Downtown Commercial Core
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown Commercial Core | 9,286 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Eau Claire | 3,733 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Sunnyside | 2,976 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Downtown West End | 2,796 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Beltline | 26,171 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Rosedale | 2,507 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
| Lower Mount Royal | 3,136 | 67.2 | 79.4 | B− |
Same police, same number: 6 neighbours drop out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- 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. 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.”
- City-wide figures. Without open access to Calgary’s community statistics, the figures here are the city’s, not Downtown Commercial Core’s own.
Questions about safety in Downtown Commercial Core
Is Downtown Commercial Core safe?
The short answer is an index of 67.2 for Downtown Commercial Core (2023–2025), built from 10.6 violent incidents and 31.9 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the typical index is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Downtown Commercial Core?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 15.7, other Criminal Code offences at 9.2 and assault at 6.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Downtown Commercial Core?
No: the index fell 15%, from 74.3 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
How much of Downtown Commercial Core’s crime do police solve?
35%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 49% and non-violent crime at 28%.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the city.
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).