High Prairie has more crime per resident than 97% of Canadian towns
Steady over the three years, the index read 297.6 in 2023 and 310 in 2025. Year on year, 63.8 violent incidents and 125.8 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering High Prairie reported put it at D− for safety: #471 of 474 in Alberta. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 521.9 and 262.5.
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-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the High Prairie detachment area.
What stands out about safety in High Prairie
Mischief: high for a town its size
High Prairie records 66.7 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 ↓
Above Alberta’s typical town
The typical Alberta town scores 110; High Prairie, 334.5. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, High Prairie comes 39th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier on violence
Violent crime scores 521.9 on High Prairie’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 262.5 against 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’s behind High Prairie’s grade
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: #471 of 474 in Alberta and #2,545 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.
Which crimes make up High Prairie’s figures
Against the typical town its size, High Prairie runs highest on mischief (66.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (15.1 per 1,000 against 2.8) and assault (36.4 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 1.3 | 44% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 10 | 1.4 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 21.7 | 3 | 18% |
| Robbery | 6 | 0.8 | 83% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7.3 | 1 | 92% |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.7 | 34% |
| Breaking and entering | 110.7 | 15.1 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 32.7 | 4.4 | 28% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74.7 | 10.2 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 16.7 | 2.3 | 8% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 137.7 | 18.8 | 19% |
| Mischief | 488 | 66.7 | 38% |
| Weapons violations | 29.7 | 4 | 71% |
| Administration of justice violations | 197.3 | 27 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 42.3 | 5.8 | 42% |
| Drug violations | 12.3 | 1.7 | 46% |
| Impaired driving | 33.7 | 4.6 | 38% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, High Prairie places 39th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Magrath Alberta | 2,566 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Hanna Alberta | 2,665 | 76.9 | 65.8 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Sexsmith Alberta | 2,561 | 87.3 | 94.5 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Sundre Alberta | 2,683 | 115.4 | 138.1 | C− |
| 36 | Grand Manan New Brunswick | 2,648 | 118.7 | 156 | C− |
| 37 | Saint-Chrysostome Quebec | 2,641 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| 38 | Brooke-Alvinston Ontario | 2,557 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
| 39 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | D− |
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 High Prairie in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
7,550 residents, about 470 violent incidents a year: the police area High Prairie belongs to, 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.
Add about 920 property crimes and 500 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
High Prairie, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 396; 2023 was lightest, at 297.6. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | High Prairie | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 310 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 396 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 297.6 | 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 High Prairie, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around High Prairie
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Prairie | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | D− |
| Big Lakes County (22 km) | 5,106 | 167.3 | 179 | D |
| Falher (56 km) | 1,084 | 91.3 | 73 | C |
| Smoky River No. 130 (58 km) | 1,941 | 91.3 | 73 | C |
| Valleyview (65 km) | 1,807 | 286.7 | 361.7 | D |
The places around High Prairie all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Big Lakes County (21.6 km away), scores 167.3 against 334.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. High Prairie has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–65 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which High Prairie is one part.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- 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. 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.”
Questions about safety in High Prairie
Is High Prairie safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 334.5 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where High Prairie stands, with 63.8 violent and 125.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in High Prairie?
Police record mischief most, 66.7 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (54.9) and assault (36.4).
Is crime going up in High Prairie?
Hardly at all, from 297.6 in 2023 to 310 in 2025.
How much of High Prairie’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 41% of crime (54% of violent crime, 31% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for High Prairie 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).