Per resident, Birch Hills records more crime than 97% of Canadian towns
The grade is D−, built on crime the police covering Birch Hills reported from 2023 to 2025. Its violent half comes to 425.8 and its non-violent half to 297.5, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8. Typical years here bring 45.2 violent incidents plus 106.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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: one figure for all of the Prince Albert detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Birch Hills
Mischief: high for a town its size
Birch Hills records 44.4 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Above Saskatchewan’s typical town
The typical Saskatchewan town scores 118.6; Birch Hills, 332.1. Towns its size ↓
Down since 2023
Birch Hills’s index went from 373 in 2023 to 308.4 in 2025; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The D− for Birch Hills, and how it is built
How sure: Less sure, as Birch Hills has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 31 km away.
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.
Crime in Birch Hills, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Birch Hills runs highest on mischief (44.4 per 1,000 against 4.2), motor vehicle theft (14.7 per 1,000 against 2.4) and break and enter (15.4 per 1,000 against 2.5). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 0.7 | 69% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 27 | 1.9 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 26 | 1.8 | 28% |
| Robbery | 25.3 | 1.8 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 6.7 | 0.5 | 45% |
| Breaking and entering | 221.7 | 15.4 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 187.3 | 13 | 17% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 212.3 | 14.7 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 17.3 | 1.2 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 157.7 | 10.9 | 4% |
| Mischief | 640.3 | 44.4 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 65 | 4.5 | 38% |
| Administration of justice violations | 377.3 | 26.1 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 66.7 | 4.6 | 48% |
| Drug violations | 47.3 | 3.3 | 26% |
| Impaired driving | 115.7 | 8 | 40% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.09 | — |
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.
In Birch Hills, down 17% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 373, against a low of 308.4 in 2025. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Birch Hills | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 308.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 314.9 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 373 | 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 Birch Hills, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
About 650 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Birch Hills (14,600 residents), 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 1,540 property crimes, plus 1,070 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Birch Hills
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch Hills | 1,093 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| St. Louis No. 431 (29 km) | 1,080 | 117.5 | 147.4 | C− |
| Prince Albert No. 461 (30 km) | 3,589 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| Prince Albert (31 km) | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | D− |
| Buckland No. 491 (38 km) | 3,550 | 332.1 | 425.8 | D− |
| Wakaw (42 km) | 1,052 | 117.5 | 147.4 | C− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Birch Hills. Closest is St. Louis No. 431, 29.2 km away, at 117.5 to 332.1 here. Sharing its police with 2 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 29–42 km from Birch Hills.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. 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 Birch Hills
Is Birch Hills safe?
Birch Hills scores 332.1 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 45.2 violent incidents and 106.9 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Birch Hills?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 49.2, mischief at 44.4 and assault at 25.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Birch Hills?
No: the index fell 17%, from 373 in 2023 to 308.4 in 2025.
How much of Birch Hills’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 58% of violent crime and 22% of everything else, 35% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Birch Hills 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).