Photo: Simon Law from Montréal, QC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Downtown records more crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Of the two halves, violence comes to 128.3 and other offences to 103.6, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2. On the record of crime the police covering Downtown reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C− for safety: #229 of 474 in Alberta. In a usual year, 14.2 violent incidents and 45.0 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, 10.8 and 25.1. By 2025 the index had dropped to 103.9, down from 114.9 in 2023.
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. Data for crime severity and crime rate covers the Edmonton service area.
What’s behind Downtown’s grade
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Downtown can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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: #229 of 474 in Alberta and #2,009 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 Edmonton’s figures
These are Edmonton’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Edmonton runs highest on robbery (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.4), motor vehicle theft (3.9 per 1,000 against 1.7) and break and enter (4.8 per 1,000 against 2.2). Drug offences sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 34.3 | 0.03 | 68% |
| Sexual violations against children | 426.7 | 0.4 | 56% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 622 | 0.5 | 86% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 170 | 0.1 | 48% |
| Robbery | 1,333.7 | 1.1 | 35% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 100.3 | 0.09 | 80% |
| Other violent violations | 452 | 0.4 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 5,679.3 | 4.8 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1,457 | 1.2 | 65% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4,638.7 | 3.9 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1,538.3 | 1.3 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 25,561.3 | 21.4 | 16% |
| Mischief | 6,367.3 | 5.4 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 1,168.3 | 1 | 72% |
| Administration of justice violations | 17,903.7 | 15.1 | 98% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 772.7 | 0.7 | 74% |
| Drug violations | 889.3 | 0.7 | 79% |
| Impaired driving | 1,242 | 1 | 92% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 31 | 0.03 | 100% |
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.
Downtown, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (114.9); 2025 was the lightest, at 103.9. 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 | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 103.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 111.1 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 114.9 | 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, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Downtown
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown | 12,880 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Central McDougall | 4,802 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Wîhkwêntôwin | 19,050 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Strathcona | 8,283 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Riverdale | 5,490 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Queen Mary Park | 7,958 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Boyle Street | 5,862 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
Sharing its police with 6 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- City-wide figures. Edmonton’s neighbourhood crime data has left the city’s open-data site and carries no open licence; Downtown takes the city-wide figures.
- 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. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Downtown
Is Downtown safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Downtown’s Crime Severity Index stands at 110 for 2023–2025. Its police record 14.2 violent incidents and 45 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Downtown?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (21.4 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 18.1, and assault, at 8, follow.
Is crime going up in Downtown?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 10%, to 103.9 from 114.9.
How much of Downtown’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 34%: 48% for violent crime and 27% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city police’s, as reported for the whole 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).