Photo: SempreVolando · CC BY 3.0Per resident, Lac la Biche County records more crime than 96% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 300.3 to 282.4. Of the two halves, violence comes to 359.4 and other offences to 273.6, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8. That puts it at D− for safety, judged on crime the police covering Lac la Biche County reported from 2023 to 2025: #468 of 474 in Alberta. Add to that, its police logs show 51.5 violent incidents and 104.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.9 and 31.2.
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, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Lac La Biche detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Lac la Biche County
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Lac la Biche County records 21.2 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Alberta
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Lac la Biche County, 296.3. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Lac la Biche County comes 38th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Lac la Biche County’s police clear 42%, 74% of violent crime and 25% of the rest. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The D− for Lac la Biche County, and how it is built
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: #468 of 474 in Alberta and #2,535 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 Lac la Biche County, by type
Against the typical town its size, Lac la Biche County runs highest on break and enter (21.2 per 1,000 against 2.8), mischief (33.8 per 1,000 against 4.9) and motor vehicle theft (13.8 per 1,000 against 2.6).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.10 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 1 | 79% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 20.3 | 2 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 15 | 1.5 | 55% |
| Robbery | 8.7 | 0.9 | 72% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 214 | 21.2 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 67 | 6.7 | 33% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 139.3 | 13.8 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 18 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 181.3 | 18 | 18% |
| Mischief | 341 | 33.8 | 54% |
| Weapons violations | 24.3 | 2.4 | 70% |
| Administration of justice violations | 173.7 | 17.2 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 33.7 | 3.3 | 53% |
| Drug violations | 18 | 1.8 | 32% |
| Impaired driving | 48 | 4.8 | 71% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.1 | — |
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.
By its index, Lac la Biche County stands 38th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Camrose County Alberta | 8,951 | 70.5 | 76.9 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Innisfail Alberta | 8,736 | 83.9 | 76 | C |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Vermilion River County Alberta | 8,282 | 96.6 | 62.7 | C− |
| 33 | Drumheller Alberta | 8,439 | 101.2 | 101.9 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Trail British Columbia | 8,539 | 114.1 | 118.2 | C− |
| 36 | Edson Alberta | 8,692 | 122.3 | 93.1 | D |
| 37 | Ponoka Alberta | 8,212 | 170.5 | 210.6 | D |
| 38 | Lac la Biche County Alberta | 8,580 | 296.3 | 359.4 | D− |
| 39 | Dauphin Manitoba | 8,587 | 305.3 | 402.1 | D− |
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Lac la Biche County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 520 violent incidents a year in the 10,200-resident police area around Lac la Biche County, 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.
Property crime adds about 1,050 a year and other violations 430 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Lac la Biche County, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 306.3; 2025 was the lightest, at 282.4. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lac la Biche County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 282.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 306.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 300.3 | 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 Lac la Biche County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Lac la Biche County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lac la Biche County | 8,580 | 296.3 | 359.4 | D− |
| Smoky Lake County (71 km) | 4,043 | 255 | 152.4 | D |
| Athabasca County (72 km) | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| Smoky Lake (79 km) | 1,159 | 255 | 152.4 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Lac la Biche County. Closest is Smoky Lake County, 70.8 km away, at 255 to 296.3 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Lac la Biche County with figures are 71–79 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Shared with the countryside. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Lac la Biche County together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. 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 Lac la Biche County
Is Lac la Biche County safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 296.3 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Lac la Biche County stands, with 51.5 violent and 104.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Lac la Biche County?
Most often it is mischief: 33.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 29.3 and assault at 28.5.
Is crime going up in Lac la Biche County?
No: the index fell 6%, from 300.3 in 2023 to 282.4 in 2025.
How much of Lac la Biche County’s crime do police solve?
About 42% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 74% of violent and 25% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lac la Biche County together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).