Photo: Qwexcxewq · CC BY 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Smoky Lake than in 95% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 152.4 and its non-violent half to 298.2, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8. The grade is D, built on crime the police covering Smoky Lake reported from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, the local count comes to 26.3 violent incidents and 103.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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 Smoky Lake detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Smoky Lake
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Smoky Lake records 31.1 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Smoky Lake’s index splits into violent crime, 152.4 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 298.2 against 62.8. By type ↓
Heavier than Alberta’s middle
Set among Alberta’s towns, whose median is 110, Smoky Lake scores 255. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Smoky Lake’s police clear 21%, 58% of violent crime and 13% 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 Smoky Lake, 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What police record in Smoky Lake, by type
Against the typical town its size, Smoky Lake runs highest on break and enter (31.1 per 1,000 against 2.5), motor vehicle theft (17.2 per 1,000 against 2.4) and mischief (21 per 1,000 against 4.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.7 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 133.7 | 31.1 | 7% |
| Possession of stolen property | 31.7 | 7.4 | 21% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74 | 17.2 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 2.3 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 63.3 | 14.7 | 12% |
| Mischief | 90 | 21 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 5 | 1.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 30.7 | 7.1 | 89% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 24.3 | 5.6 | 22% |
| Drug violations | 4.7 | 1.1 | — |
| Impaired driving | 12.7 | 2.9 | 84% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 people or more.
The police area Smoky Lake is part of, 4,380 residents, recorded about 110 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.
And about 440 property crimes, plus 120 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
The index in Smoky Lake, each year
Crime Severity Index
At 299.9, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 190.1. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Smoky Lake | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 190.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 299.9 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 275 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Smoky Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Smoky Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoky Lake | 1,159 | 255 | 152.4 | D |
| Smoky Lake County (20 km) | 4,043 | 255 | 152.4 | D |
| Lamont County (40 km) | 3,918 | 95.7 | 81.2 | C− |
| Thorhild County (43 km) | 3,147 | 167.5 | 126.8 | D |
| Lamont (44 km) | 1,856 | 167.5 | 126.8 | D |
| Redwater (46 km) | 2,301 | 167.5 | 126.8 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Smoky Lake. Closest is Lamont County, 40.3 km away, at 95.7 to 255 here. Sharing its police with one neighbour, it shares that neighbour’s figure as well, so the neighbour isn’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 20–46 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Smoky Lake.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- Read with care. The police behind these figures serve about 4,384 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Shared with the countryside. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Smoky Lake is one part.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Smoky Lake
Is Smoky Lake safe?
Smoky Lake measures 255 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 26.3 violent incidents and 103 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Smoky Lake?
Police record break and enter most, 31.1 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (21) and other Criminal Code offences (19.2).
Is crime going up in Smoky Lake?
It went down 31% between 2023 and 2025, from 275 to 190.1. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Smoky Lake’s crime do police solve?
About 21% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 58% of violent and 13% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Smoky Lake and everywhere else it polices.
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).