Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · CC0Per resident, Vulcan County records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 64.3 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Its Safety Grade, B− (#29 of 474 in Alberta), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. In a usual year, 11.5 violent incidents and 27.7 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2.
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 for the Vulcan detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Vulcan County
Rising since 2023
From 53.6 in 2023 to 69.2 in 2025: that is Vulcan County’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Under the Alberta norm
Vulcan County’s index of 64.3 compares with 110 for the typical town in Alberta. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Vulcan County’s index splits into violent crime, 54 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 68.9 against 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Vulcan County places 22nd from the lowest 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.
Inside Vulcan County’s B− for safety
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: #29 of 474 in Alberta and #1,008 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.
Vulcan County’s index rose 29% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (70.1) and 2023 the trough (53.6). The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Vulcan County | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 69.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 70.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 53.6 | 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 Vulcan County, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Vulcan County, by type
Against the typical town its size, Vulcan County runs highest on break and enter (4.3 per 1,000 against 2.8) and fraud (7.4 per 1,000 against 4.9). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 27 | 4.3 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6 | 1 | 33% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 15.7 | 2.5 | 21% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 10 | 1.6 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 33 | 5.3 | 14% |
| Mischief | 33.3 | 5.4 | 10% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 13.7 | 2.2 | 68% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 9 | 1.4 | 30% |
| Drug violations | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8.7 | 1.4 | 46% |
| 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 to 10,000 people.
Vulcan County comes 22nd of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Raymond Alberta | 4,594 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| 7 | Warner County No. 5 Alberta | 4,533 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 19 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 63.2 | 81.9 | B− |
| 20 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 63.5 | 42.7 | B− |
| 21 | Rossland British Columbia | 4,355 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| 22 | Vulcan County Alberta | 4,465 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| 23 | Richmond County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 4,305 | 65.2 | 90.1 | B− |
| 24 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| 25 | Caraquet New Brunswick | 4,572 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Vulcan County in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 72 violent incidents a year in the 6,420-resident police area around Vulcan County, 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 170 a year and other violations 63 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Vulcan County
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vulcan County | 4,465 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| Vulcan (6 km) | 1,922 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| Nanton (43 km) | 2,522 | 63.7 | 46 | B− |
| Claresholm (51 km) | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| High River (53 km) | 15,508 | 50.5 | 56.6 | B+ |
| Nobleford (59 km) | 1,694 | 35.7 | 34 | A |
Of 4 places nearby with their own figures, 3 come in under Vulcan County. Nanton, 42.9 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 63.7 to 64.3. Where a neighbour shares its police, it shares the figure too, and isn’t counted above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 6–59 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Vulcan County.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Town and surroundings together. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Vulcan County’s are shared with its surroundings.
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Vulcan County
Is Vulcan County safe?
Statistics Canada puts Vulcan County at 64.3 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 11.5 and property crimes at 27.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Vulcan County?
The three biggest groups are fraud at 7.4, other Criminal Code offences at 7.2 and mischief at 5.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Vulcan County?
It has: 53.6 in 2023 became 69.2 by 2025, a rise of 29%.
How much of Vulcan County’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 64% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 31% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Vulcan County 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).