Photo: Peter Vaitkunas · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in St. Paul than in 98% of Canadian towns
That puts it at D− for safety, judged on crime the police covering St. Paul reported from 2023 to 2025: #2,556 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 364.4 and 367.9. Year on year, 57.6 violent incidents and 218.2 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Police cleared 45% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian 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 St. Paul
Mischief: high for a town its size
St. Paul records 129.2 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 ↓
Heavier than Alberta’s middle
The typical Alberta town scores 110; St. Paul, 364.7. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
St. Paul’s index went from 408.5 in 2023 to 304.4 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, St. Paul comes 40th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. 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.
St. Paul: D− for safety, and why
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: #2,556 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 St. Paul, by type
Against the typical town its size, St. Paul runs highest on mischief (129.2 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (20.9 per 1,000 against 2.8) and drug offences (4 per 1,000 against 0.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 11.3 | 1.9 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 11 | 1.8 | 12% |
| Robbery | 13.7 | 2.3 | 58% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 126.3 | 20.9 | 21% |
| Possession of stolen property | 28.3 | 4.7 | 27% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 54.7 | 9 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 248.7 | 41.1 | 23% |
| Mischief | 780 | 129.2 | 59% |
| Weapons violations | 21.7 | 3.6 | 61% |
| Administration of justice violations | 329 | 54.7 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 20.7 | 3.4 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 24.3 | 4 | 37% |
| Impaired driving | 39 | 6.5 | 74% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
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.
From 2023 to 2025, St. Paul’s index dropped 25%
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 408.5; the lightest was 2025, at 304.4. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | St. Paul | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 304.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 381.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 408.5 | 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 St. Paul, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, St. Paul stands 40th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glencoe Ontario | 6,468 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Stettler County No. 6 Alberta | 5,966 | 61.7 | 36.4 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Crowsnest Pass Alberta | 6,011 | 80.2 | 94.5 | C |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Barrhead County No. 11 Alberta | 6,186 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Willow Creek No. 26 Alberta | 6,225 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 267.2 | 543.5 | D |
| 38 | Petrolia Ontario | 6,422 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
| 39 | St. Paul County No. 19 Alberta | 6,462 | 352.9 | 639.7 | D− |
| 40 | St. Paul Alberta | 6,218 | 364.7 | 364.4 | 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 St. Paul in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
St. Paul’s police: about 350 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.
Add about 1,320 property crimes and 600 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around St. Paul
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | 6,218 | 364.7 | 364.4 | D− |
| St. Paul County No. 19 (10 km) | 6,462 | 352.9 | 639.7 | D− |
| Elk Point (28 km) | 1,481 | 309.8 | 440.4 | D− |
| Two Hills County No. 21 (35 km) | 3,626 | 119.1 | 74.4 | C− |
| Two Hills (43 km) | 1,698 | 119.1 | 74.4 | C− |
| Bonnyville (48 km) | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than St. Paul. Closest is St. Paul County No. 19, 10.2 km away, at 352.9 to 364.7 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. St. Paul has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 10–48 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in St. Paul
Is St. Paul safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 364.7 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where St. Paul stands, with 57.6 violent and 218.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in St. Paul?
Top of the list is mischief (129.2 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 85.8, and theft under $5,000, at 41.1, follow.
Is crime going up in St. Paul?
The reverse: 408.5 in 2023 came down to 304.4 by 2025, 25% lower.
How much of St. Paul’s crime do police solve?
45%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 56% and non-violent crime at 41%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers St. Paul and nowhere else.
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).