Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPer resident, Olds records more crime than seven in ten Canadian towns
Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. On top of that, on crime the police covering Olds reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C for safety: #201 of 474 in Alberta. Split in two, the index gives 86.2 for violence and 86.1 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). For every 1,000 residents, 17.7 violent incidents and 45.5 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures 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.
What stands out about safety in Olds
Mischief: high for a town its size
Olds records 14.5 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 ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Olds stands 32nd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Alberta
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 85.6 in Olds. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Olds’s index splits into violent crime, 86.2 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 86.1 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.
Inside Olds’s C 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: #201 of 474 in Alberta and #1,775 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 Olds, by type
Against the typical town its size, Olds runs highest on mischief (14.5 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (9.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and drug offences (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.7). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 36 | 3.7 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.3 | 1 | 25% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 29.7 | 3 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11 | 1.1 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 117 | 12 | 13% |
| Mischief | 141 | 14.5 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 34 | 3.5 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 9.3 | 1 | 40% |
| Drug violations | 11.3 | 1.2 | 42% |
| Impaired driving | 43.3 | 4.4 | 87% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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, Olds places 32nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Coaldale Alberta | 9,644 | 57.1 | 45.1 | B |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 75.8 | 69 | C+ |
| 30 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| 31 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| 32 | Olds Alberta | 9,653 | 85.6 | 86.2 | C |
| 33 | Kitimat British Columbia | 10,019 | 100.8 | 107.1 | C− |
| 34 | Stony Mountain Manitoba | 9,180 | 100.9 | 127 | C− |
| 35 | Castlegar British Columbia | 9,465 | 107.5 | 94.1 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Hinton Alberta | 10,124 | 137.3 | 109.5 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Olds in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Olds’s index fell 11% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 96.1, and its lowest 2024, at 74.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Olds | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 85.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 74.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 96.1 | 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 Olds, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Olds’s police: about 170 violent incidents a year over 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 440 a year and other violations 150 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Olds
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olds | 9,653 | 85.6 | 86.2 | C |
| Didsbury | 5,185 | 59.9 | 69.6 | B− |
| Bowden | 1,315 | 73.6 | 64.8 | C+ |
| Mountain View County | 14,802 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
The places around Olds all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Didsbury (15.1 km away), scores 59.9 against 85.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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 Olds
Is Olds safe?
The short answer is an index of 85.6 for Olds (2023–2025), built from 17.7 violent incidents and 45.5 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Olds?
Top of the list is mischief (14.5 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 12, and fraud, at 9.9, follow.
Is crime going up in Olds?
No: the index fell 11%, from 96.1 in 2023 to 85.9 in 2025.
How much of Olds’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 28% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 51% of violent crime and 18% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Olds 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).