Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainSpecial Area No. 3 has more crime per resident than 71% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 136 and its non-violent half to 66.5, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Special Area No. 3 reported put it at C for safety. Behind the grade sit 15.8 violent incidents and 29.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Oyen detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Special Area No. 3
More crime solved
Police cleared 49% of Special Area No. 3’s crime, weighted by seriousness (85% of violent crime, 24% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Lower than most of Alberta
The typical Alberta town scores 110; Special Area No. 3, 85.8. Towns its size ↓
The violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Special Area No. 3’s two halves part ways: 136 for violence (typical 86.4) and 66.5 for the rest (typical 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 Special Area No. 3’s C for safety
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Special Area No. 3 itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 10 km away.
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.
Special Area No. 3’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Special Area No. 3 runs highest on fraud (9.2 per 1,000 against 5.1) and mischief (6.2 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 7.7 | 2.8 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.7 | 1.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7.3 | 2.6 | 32% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 15.7 | 5.6 | 11% |
| Mischief | 17.3 | 6.2 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 8.3 | 3 | 60% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Drug violations | 1.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Impaired driving | 10.7 | 3.8 | 65% |
| 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 detachment nearest Special Area No. 3, 2,790 residents: around 44 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 81 property crimes and 36 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Special Area No. 3’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 122.3; 2023 was the lightest, at 63.1. In the same years the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ read 70.6 (2023), then 62.9 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Special Area No. 3 | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 122.3 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 63.1 | 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 Special Area No. 3, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Special Area No. 3
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special Area No. 3 | 1,043 | 85.8 | 136 | C |
| Special Area No. 4 (57 km) | 1,171 | 69.8 | 55.2 | C+ |
| Special Area No. 2 (58 km) | 1,837 | 76.9 | 65.8 | C+ |
| Hanna (82 km) | 2,665 | 76.9 | 65.8 | C+ |
| Provost No. 52 (105 km) | 2,092 | 111.4 | 90.4 | C− |
| Kindersley No. 290 (107 km) | 1,023 | 95.9 | 83.7 | C− |
Nearby, 3 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Special Area No. 3. Just 57.4 km away, Special Area No. 4 comes to 69.8, against 85.8.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Special Area No. 3 with figures are 57–107 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A small police area. About 2,788 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.”
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Special Area No. 3
Is Special Area No. 3 safe?
Police-reported crime in Special Area No. 3 scores 85.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 15.8 violent incidents and 29 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, the median is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Special Area No. 3?
Most often it is fraud: 9.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 6.7 and mischief at 6.2.
Is crime going up in Special Area No. 3?
It went up 14% between 2023 and 2025, from 63.1 to 72. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Special Area No. 3’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 49% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+); split up, that is 85% of violent and 24% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Special Area No. 3 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).