Photo: Mack Male from Edmonton, AB, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Highlands than in 82% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 128.3 and its non-violent half to 103.6, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Counting crime the police covering Highlands reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #229 of 474 in Alberta. Year on year, 14.2 violent incidents and 45.0 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. By contrast, the index fell from 114.9 in 2023 to 103.9 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 and crime rate published for the Edmonton service area, not by town.
The C− for Highlands, and how it is built
How sure: Not as firm as most grades, since the figure covers the entire city rather than Highlands 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: #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.
Edmonton’s crime, type by type
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 motor vehicle theft (3.9 per 1,000 against 1.7), break and enter (4.8 per 1,000 against 2.2) and theft under $5,000 (21.4 per 1,000 against 11.5).
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.
Highlands, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 114.9; the lightest was 2025, at 103.9. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Highlands | 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 Highlands, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Highlands
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 2,677 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Montrose | 3,378 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Newton | 2,809 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Virginia Park | 3,431 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Capilano | 5,046 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Beacon Heights | 4,389 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Beverly Heights | 3,252 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
Its police also cover 6 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- The whole city’s numbers. Edmonton’s neighbourhood crime data has left the city’s open-data site and carries no open licence; Highlands takes the city-wide figures.
Questions about safety in Highlands
Is Highlands safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Highlands comes to 110. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 14.2 violent incidents and 45 property crimes. For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the typical index is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Highlands?
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 Highlands?
No: the index fell 10%, from 114.9 in 2023 to 103.9 in 2025.
How much of Highlands’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 34% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 48% of violent crime and 27% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
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).