Photo: Krazytea · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Pembina records less crime than 98% of Canadian towns
It grades A+ for safety on crime the police covering Pembina reported from 2023 to 2025: #1 of 182 in Manitoba. Violence accounts for an index of 36.9 and other offences for 23, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Annual rates stand at 5.6 violent incidents and 9.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 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. Shared with the rest of the Manitou detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Pembina
Lower than most of Manitoba
The typical Manitoba town scores 129.3; Pembina, 26.8. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Pembina comes 2nd, 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.
The grade: A+ for Pembina
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: #1 of 182 in Manitoba and #54 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.
Crime in Pembina, type by type
Fraud and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 7 | 1 | 10% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 1.2 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11 | 1.6 | 30% |
| Mischief | 18.7 | 2.7 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 11.7 | 1.7 | 60% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8 | 1.2 | 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.
By its index, Pembina stands 2nd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Pembina Manitoba | 2,502 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| 3 | Dufferin Manitoba | 2,587 | 27.2 | 39.3 | A+ |
| 4 | Fossambault-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 2,505 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 5 | Magrath Alberta | 2,566 | 36.6 | 46.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | 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 Pembina in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 38 violent incidents a year across the police area of 6,880 residents that includes Pembina, 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.
And about 63 property crimes, plus 35 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Year by year in Pembina: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 33.5; 2023 was the lightest, at 23.2. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Pembina | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 33.5 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 23.2 | 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 Pembina, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Pembina
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembina | 2,502 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| Lorne (22 km) | 3,022 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| Thompson (23 km) | 1,440 | 318.8 | 712.5 | D− |
| Louise (27 km) | 2,086 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
2 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 22–27 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Pembina.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Pembina’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in Pembina
Is Pembina safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Pembina comes to 26.8. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 5.6 violent incidents and 9.2 property crimes. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Pembina?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 3.2 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (2.7) and assault (2.4).
Is crime going up in Pembina?
Hardly at all, from 23.2 in 2023 to 23.7 in 2025.
How much of Pembina’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 66% of violent crime and 21% of everything else, 39% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Pembina 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).