Photo: Shogged · CC BY-SA 4.0Opportunity No. 17 sees more crime per resident than almost any other Canadian town
Police cleared 41% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size. Even so, the grade is D−, built on crime the police covering Opportunity No. 17 reported from 2023 to 2025: #2,561 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Its police logs show 103.1 violent incidents and 182.5 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. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 602.4 and 456.3.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Red Earth Creek detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Opportunity No. 17
Mischief: high for a town its size
Opportunity No. 17 records 89.6 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
Within Alberta, the median town comes to 110 on the index, against 495.1 in Opportunity No. 17. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Opportunity No. 17 stands 40th, the lowest first. 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.
What’s behind Opportunity No. 17’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: #2,561 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 Opportunity No. 17, by type
Against the typical town its size, Opportunity No. 17 runs highest on mischief (89.6 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (30 per 1,000 against 2.8) and assault (72 per 1,000 against 6.7). Fraud sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 1.8 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 2.8 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 1.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.6 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 50.3 | 30 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 14 | 8.4 | 43% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 38 | 22.7 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11.7 | 6.9 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 29.7 | 17.7 | 9% |
| Mischief | 149.3 | 89.6 | 37% |
| Weapons violations | 6 | 3.6 | 88% |
| Administration of justice violations | 86.3 | 51.9 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 17.7 | 10.6 | 64% |
| Drug violations | 7 | 4.3 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 74 | 44.3 | 34% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
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, Opportunity No. 17 places 40th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Three Hills Alberta | 3,502 | 110.8 | 105.9 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Two Hills County No. 21 Alberta | 3,626 | 119.1 | 74.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Bifrost-Riverton Manitoba | 3,518 | 307.1 | 431.5 | D− |
| 38 | Prince Albert No. 461 Saskatchewan | 3,589 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| 39 | Buckland No. 491 Saskatchewan | 3,550 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | 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 Opportunity No. 17 in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Opportunity No. 17 is part of, 1,700 residents, recorded about 170 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.
Property crime adds about 310 a year and other violations 220 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Opportunity No. 17’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
It finished on its highest reading, 582.8 in 2025, having been lowest in 2023 at 381.8. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Opportunity No. 17 | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 582.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 520.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 381.8 | 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 Opportunity No. 17, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Opportunity No. 17
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opportunity No. 17 | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | D− |
| Lesser Slave River No. 124 (91 km) | 2,980 | 170.9 | 107.9 | D |
| Slave Lake (98 km) | 7,334 | 186.1 | 153.9 | D |
| Athabasca (146 km) | 2,887 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| Big Lakes County (154 km) | 5,106 | 167.3 | 179 | D |
| Athabasca County (157 km) | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Opportunity No. 17. Closest is Lesser Slave River No. 124, 91.1 km away, at 170.9 to 495.1 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 91–157 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Opportunity No. 17.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Small numbers. About 1,701 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Shared with the countryside. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Opportunity No. 17 together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Opportunity No. 17
Is Opportunity No. 17 safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Opportunity No. 17 scores 495.1 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 103.1 violent and 182.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Opportunity No. 17?
Top of the list is mischief (89.6 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 72.3, and assault, at 72, follow.
Is crime going up in Opportunity No. 17?
Up 53%: 381.8 in 2023, 582.8 in 2025. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Opportunity No. 17’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 41% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 58% of violent crime and 32% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Opportunity No. 17 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).