Photo: Wilson Hui from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0Per resident, Westlock records more crime than 88% of Canadian towns
Alberta’s towns sit around 110, midway up their range. What’s more, its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Westlock reported from 2023 to 2025: #437 of 474 in Alberta. Of the two halves, violence comes to 116.4 and other offences to 136.2, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8. Per 1,000 residents a year, 17.8 violent incidents and 62.6 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Westlock detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Westlock
Mischief: high for a town its size
Westlock records 23.3 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 ↓
Easing since 2023
In 2023 the index in Westlock stood at 143.5, by 2025 at 99.9. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Westlock stands 39th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Westlock scores 116.4 for violence and 136.2 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 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 Westlock’s D 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: #437 of 474 in Alberta and #2,309 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.
Westlock’s index fell 30% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 145.9, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 99.9. 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 | Westlock | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 99.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 145.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 143.5 | 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 Westlock, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Westlock, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Westlock runs highest on mischief (23.3 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (9.5 per 1,000 against 2.8) and drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.7). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.3 | 0.6 | 64% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5.3 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.10 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.4 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 129 | 9.5 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 55 | 4 | 25% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 67 | 4.9 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 15.7 | 1.2 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 157 | 11.5 | 16% |
| Mischief | 316.7 | 23.3 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 5 | 0.4 | 80% |
| Administration of justice violations | 94.3 | 6.9 | 66% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 24.7 | 1.8 | 36% |
| Drug violations | 20.3 | 1.5 | 44% |
| Impaired driving | 20.7 | 1.5 | 79% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.10 | — |
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.
Westlock comes 39th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 25.2 | 31.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Carstairs Alberta | 5,248 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Didsbury Alberta | 5,185 | 59.9 | 69.6 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Deer Lake Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,319 | 96.2 | 98.9 | C− |
| 37 | Chisasibi Quebec | 5,382 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
| 38 | Antigonish Nova Scotia | 5,175 | 115.4 | 123.5 | C− |
| 39 | Westlock Alberta | 5,363 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 40 | Oliver British Columbia | 5,262 | 132.5 | 95.2 | 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 Westlock in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Westlock is part of, 13,800 residents, recorded about 240 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 850 property crimes and 240 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 Westlock
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlock | 5,363 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| Westlock County (10 km) | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| Legal (28 km) | 1,253 | 84.7 | 81.5 | C |
| Barrhead (37 km) | 4,768 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| Morinville (42 km) | 10,763 | 66.4 | 81.6 | B− |
| Barrhead County No. 11 (44 km) | 6,186 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
The places around Westlock all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Legal (28.4 km away), scores 84.7 against 129.8. Where a neighbour shares its police, it shares the figure too, and isn’t counted above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Westlock has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 10–44 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. 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.”
- A detachment’s area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Westlock together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Westlock
Is Westlock safe?
The short answer is an index of 129.8 for Westlock (2023–2025), built from 17.8 violent incidents and 62.6 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Westlock?
Police record mischief most, 23.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (12.8) and theft under $5,000 (11.5).
Is crime going up in Westlock?
Down 30%: 143.5 in 2023, 99.9 in 2025.
How much of Westlock’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 33%: 68% for violent crime and 21% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Westlock and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).