Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Per resident, Carstairs records less crime than 62% of Canadian towns
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. A Safety Grade of B follows from crime the police covering Carstairs reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #19 of 474 in Alberta. Violence and property crime split as 10.8 violent incidents and 19.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Its violent half comes to 78.3 and its non-violent half to 45.9, where the norm is 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Didsbury detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Carstairs
Lighter than Alberta’s middle
Set among Alberta’s towns, whose median is 110, Carstairs scores 54.8. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Carstairs is 15th 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 Carstairs’s grade
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 12 km from Carstairs, not to the town.
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: #19 of 474 in Alberta and #703 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.
What police record in Carstairs, by type
Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6 | 0.5 | 62% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 30.7 | 2.4 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.6 | 17% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 24 | 1.9 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7 | 0.5 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 51 | 4 | 11% |
| Mischief | 62.7 | 4.9 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.4 | 57% |
| Administration of justice violations | 31 | 2.4 | 57% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.3 | 0.9 | 24% |
| Drug violations | 5.3 | 0.4 | 38% |
| Impaired driving | 28.7 | 2.2 | 74% |
| 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.
Carstairs is 15th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 25.2 | 31.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Wingham Ontario | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| 13 | Morin-Heights Quebec | 5,086 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| 14 | Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 5,194 | 53.8 | 81.1 | B |
| 15 | Carstairs Alberta | 5,248 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| 16 | Saint-Jean-de-Matha Quebec | 5,415 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 17 | Saint-Donat Quebec | 5,087 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 18 | Grand Bay-Westfield New Brunswick | 5,202 | 58.8 | 54.7 | B− |
| 19 | Didsbury Alberta | 5,185 | 59.9 | 69.6 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Kneehill County Alberta | 5,129 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Westlock Alberta | 5,363 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Big Lakes County Alberta | 5,106 | 167.3 | 179 | 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 Carstairs in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Carstairs, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 61.9; 2025 was the lightest, at 50.1. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Carstairs | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 61.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 52.5 | 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 Carstairs, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 140 violent incidents a year at the detachment nearest Carstairs (13,300 residents), 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 240 property crimes, plus 110 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 Carstairs
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carstairs | 5,248 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| Didsbury | 5,185 | 59.9 | 69.6 | B− |
| Crossfield | 4,075 | 137 | 122.9 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Carstairs.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- 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 Carstairs
Is Carstairs safe?
With 10.8 violent incidents and 19.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Carstairs comes to 54.8 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Carstairs?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 5.4, mischief at 4.9 and fraud at 4.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Carstairs?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 52.5 to 50.1.
How much of Carstairs’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 38% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 62% of violent crime and 21% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Carstairs and everywhere else it polices.
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).