Photo: awmcphee · CC BY-SA 4.0Swan Hills has more crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Per 1,000 residents a year, 26.0 violent incidents and 98.6 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Add to that, that puts it at D for safety, judged on crime the police covering Swan Hills reported from 2023 to 2025. Of the two halves, violence comes to 106.8 and other offences to 231.7, beside norms of 86.4 and 62.8.
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Swan Hills detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Swan Hills
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Swan Hills records 17.5 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 ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Violent crime scores 106.8 on Swan Hills’s index against 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+; non-violent crime, 231.7 against 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than most of Alberta
Swan Hills’s index of 194.9 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. 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.
Swan Hills: 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Which crimes make up Swan Hills’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Swan Hills runs highest on break and enter (17.5 per 1,000 against 2.5), mischief (25.8 per 1,000 against 4.2) and motor vehicle theft (9.4 per 1,000 against 2.4).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 26 | 17.5 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6.3 | 4.3 | 32% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14 | 9.4 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 17.3 | 11.6 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 36.7 | 24.4 | 9% |
| Mischief | 38.3 | 25.8 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 19.3 | 13.1 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.7 | 2.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 2 | 1.4 | — |
| Impaired driving | 1.7 | 1.1 | — |
| 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 people or more.
The police area Swan Hills is part of, 1,530 residents, recorded about 38 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 150 property crimes and 35 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
The index in Swan Hills, each year
Crime Severity Index
It finished on its highest reading, 228.4 in 2025, having been lowest in 2023 at 162.4. The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Swan Hills | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 228.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 193.8 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 162.4 | 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 Swan Hills, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Swan Hills
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swan Hills | 1,430 | 194.9 | 106.8 | D |
| Whitecourt (66 km) | 10,708 | 146.3 | 128.4 | D |
| Woodlands County (68 km) | 4,778 | 120.9 | 106.4 | D |
| Slave Lake (74 km) | 7,334 | 186.1 | 153.9 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Swan Hills. Closest is Whitecourt, 66.3 km away, at 146.3 to 194.9 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Swan Hills has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 66–74 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Read with care. About 1,534 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. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Swan Hills 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.
- 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. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Swan Hills
Is Swan Hills safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Swan Hills scores 194.9 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 26 violent and 98.6 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Swan Hills?
Most often it is mischief: 25.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 24.4 and other Criminal Code offences at 18.
Is crime going up in Swan Hills?
Up 41%: 162.4 in 2023, 228.4 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Swan Hills’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 31%: 73% for violent crime and 23% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Swan Hills 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).