From the Fraser Institute

By Livio Di Matteo

The rate of property crimes per person in Calgary is 50 per cent higher than in Phoenix, and Lethbridge has the highest rate of property crime of any large urban area in Canada, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Albertans are no doubt aware that the rate of property crimes in the province’s biggest cities is on the rise, but they might not know how bad it’s become relative to American cities to the south,” said Livio Di Matteo, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Comparing Recent Crime Trends in Canada and the US.

The study examines crime rates of large urban areas with 100,000 people or more, known as Census Metropolitan Areas in Canada and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S.

Using the maximum annual crime rate from 2019 to 2022 (the most recent years of comparable date), Lethbridge had the highest rate of property crimes (e.g., burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft) of all Canadian cities while Kelowna, BC ranked 2nd.

Both Lethbridge and Calgary ranked higher than Las Vegas for property crime, while Lethbridge also ranked higher than Denver, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California.

Winnipeg, Manitoba is Canada’s most-violent city with the highest per person rate of violent crimes (murder, robbery, and assault with a weapon) of all Canadian urban areas. Crucially, Winnipeg ranked 18th out of all 334 urban areas in Canada and the U.S.

“Crime rates in Alberta’s largest cities, while still historically low, are on the rise and should be of greater concern for both citizens and policymakers,” Di Matteo said.

Comparing Recent Crime Trends in Canada and the United States

• This study examines total property and total violent crimes, adjusted for population, across 36 Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) and over 300 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The data reported covers the 2019 to 2022 period.
• In general, after decades of decline, recent years have seen increases in crime rates in both Canada and the United States, though by historic standards rates remain low.
• For violent crimes, the top (worst) ranked city was Memphis, TN (1,311 per 100,000) while the top ranked Canadian city was Winnipeg, which ranked 18th overall at 675 per 100,000.
• Twenty-five percent of Canadian CMAs are in the top half of Canada-U.S. violent crime rankings with the remaining 75 percent in the bottom half.
• For property crime, the top (worst) ranked city was Lethbridge, AB at 5,521 per 100,000. Kelowna, BC ranked second highest (4,932 per 100,000). Pueblo, CO at 4,911 per 100,000 ranked third overall and was the highest (worst) ranked U.S. city.
• While Canadian CMAs make up roughly 10 percent of the CMAs and MSAs used in this ranking, when it comes to property crime rates, they account for 24 percent of the top (worst) 10 percent of the property crime rankings whereas in the case of violent crimes they accounted for only 3 percent of the cities in the top 10 percent.
• There is a distinct east-west divide in the data in that eastern Canadian cities, particularly in Quebec, tend to have lower rates (adjusted for population) of both violent and property crime compared to the west. A similar east-west trend holds in the United States.
  

  Livio Di Matteo

  Professor of Economics, Lakehead University