Photo: Festbock · CC BY-SA 3.0Medicine Hat records more crime per resident than 72% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 82.6 for violence and 89.9 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). The index rose from 82.7 in 2023 to 94.4 in 2025. Counting crime the police covering Medicine Hat reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C for safety: #206 of 474 in Alberta. The local count comes to 14.6 violent incidents and 47.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 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 Medicine Hat
Mischief: high for a town its size
Medicine Hat records 9.7 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Medicine Hat places 31st from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Below Alberta’s typical town
Medicine Hat’s index of 87.3 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Violent crime scores 82.6 on Medicine Hat’s index against 75.2 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 89.9 against 54.2. 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 Medicine Hat’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: #206 of 474 in Alberta and #1,785 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 Medicine Hat’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Medicine Hat runs highest on mischief (9.7 per 1,000 against 3.8), break and enter (4.9 per 1,000 against 2.2) and theft under $5,000 (20.5 per 1,000 against 11.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 22 | 0.3 | 77% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 32 | 0.5 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 19.3 | 0.3 | 74% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 10 | 0.1 | 90% |
| Other violent violations | 10 | 0.1 | 70% |
| Breaking and entering | 331.3 | 4.9 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 47.7 | 0.7 | 85% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 116.3 | 1.7 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 37.7 | 0.6 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,387 | 20.5 | 15% |
| Mischief | 659.3 | 9.7 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 58.7 | 0.9 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 934.3 | 13.8 | 86% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 72.3 | 1.1 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 74.7 | 1.1 | 75% |
| Impaired driving | 22.7 | 0.3 | 53% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 10.7 | 0.2 | 31% |
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.
Medicine Hat, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 94.4; the lightest was 2023, at 82.7. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Medicine Hat | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 94.4 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 84.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 82.7 | 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 Medicine Hat, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Medicine Hat stands 31st of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 20 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 58.8 | 51.1 | B |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 79.4 | 105.1 | C |
| 29 | Saint John New Brunswick | 79,371 | 81.5 | 114.2 | C |
| 30 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 81.6 | 62.7 | C |
| 31 | Medicine Hat Alberta | 68,714 | 87.3 | 82.6 | C |
| 32 | North Bay Ontario | 62,062 | 87.5 | 124.1 | C |
| 33 | Fredericton New Brunswick | 74,655 | 92.3 | 101.9 | C |
| 34 | Cornwall Ontario | 54,346 | 104.5 | 126.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Fort McMurray Alberta | 81,611 | 124.5 | 117.5 | D |
| 38 | Rocky View County Alberta | 50,260 | 137 | 122.9 | D |
| 39 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 149.3 | 157.2 | 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 Medicine Hat in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 990 violent incidents a year on Medicine Hat’s police records (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.
And about 3,190 property crimes, plus 1,470 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Medicine Hat
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine Hat | 68,714 | 87.3 | 82.6 | C |
| Cypress County | 7,855 | 66.6 | 46.6 | B− |
| Redcliff | 5,916 | 66.7 | 63.8 | B− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Medicine Hat. Closest is Cypress County, 4.8 km away, at 66.6 to 87.3 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 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. 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.
Questions about safety in Medicine Hat
Is Medicine Hat safe?
With 14.6 violent incidents and 47 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Medicine Hat comes to 87.3 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 Medicine Hat?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 20.5, other Criminal Code offences at 19.5 and mischief at 9.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Medicine Hat?
Up 14%: 82.7 in 2023, 94.4 in 2025.
How much of Medicine Hat’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 38% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 63% of violent crime and 28% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Medicine Hat 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).