Photo: Kmsiever · Public domainLethbridge records more crime per resident than 88% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 142 for violence and 124.2 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). About 43% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size. The grade is D, built on crime the police covering Lethbridge reported from 2023 to 2025: #437 of 474 in Alberta. Behind the grade sit 23.7 violent incidents and 52.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size.
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.
What stands out about safety in Lethbridge
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Lethbridge records 6.5 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Lethbridge is 36th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
About the Alberta norm
Set among Alberta’s towns, whose median is 110, Lethbridge scores 128.5. 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.
Inside Lethbridge’s D for safety
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: #437 of 474 in Alberta and #2,309 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.
What police record in Lethbridge, by type
Against the typical town its size, Lethbridge runs highest on drug offences (6.5 per 1,000 against 0.9), break and enter (7 per 1,000 against 2.2) and assault (13.9 per 1,000 against 4.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 51.3 | 0.5 | 49% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 75.3 | 0.7 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 10.7 | 0.10 | 72% |
| Robbery | 71.3 | 0.6 | 51% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 23.7 | 0.2 | 81% |
| Other violent violations | 37.3 | 0.3 | 56% |
| Breaking and entering | 769 | 7 | 24% |
| Possession of stolen property | 141 | 1.3 | 68% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 302 | 2.7 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 51.7 | 0.5 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 2,724 | 24.6 | 19% |
| Mischief | 1,021.3 | 9.3 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 126 | 1.1 | 87% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,572 | 14.1 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 194 | 1.8 | 67% |
| Drug violations | 719 | 6.5 | 41% |
| Impaired driving | 329 | 3 | 88% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 9 | 0.08 | 44% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Among 40 towns its size, Lethbridge places 36th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 44.3 | 48.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 68.4 | 61.3 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Nanaimo British Columbia | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| 34 | Fort McMurray Alberta | 81,611 | 124.5 | 117.5 | D |
| 35 | Red Deer Alberta | 115,409 | 126.8 | 134.3 | D |
| 36 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 128.5 | 142 | D |
| 37 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 142.2 | 158.4 | D |
| 38 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 148.2 | 134.8 | D |
| 39 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Lethbridge in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Lethbridge’s index fell 14% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (144.4); the low point came in 2024, at 117.4. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lethbridge | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 123.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 117.4 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 144.4 | 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 Lethbridge, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Police in Lethbridge recorded about 2,620 violent incidents a year, 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 5,850 property crimes and 3,200 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Lethbridge
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lethbridge | 113,671 | 128.5 | 142 | D |
| Coalhurst | 3,244 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
| Coaldale | 9,644 | 57.1 | 45.1 | B |
| Lethbridge County | 10,988 | 96 | 62 | C− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Lethbridge. Coalhurst, 8.5 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 35.7 to 128.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. 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.
- How serious, not how safe. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in Lethbridge
Is Lethbridge safe?
With 23.7 violent incidents and 52.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Lethbridge comes to 128.5 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Lethbridge?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 24.6, other Criminal Code offences at 17.9 and assault at 13.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lethbridge?
It went down 14% between 2023 and 2025, from 144.4 to 123.9.
How much of Lethbridge’s crime do police solve?
43%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 54% and non-violent crime at 38%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Lethbridge alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).