Volume and severity of crime down, breaking 3-year trend: report

There's been a shift in the severity of crime across Canada, according to the most recent Statistics Canada numbers, but is Calgary seeing that same trend?

The volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada decreased by four per cent in 2024.

The shift follows three consecutive years of increases, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.

The values are calculated by a Crime Severity Index (CSI).

“A number of years ago, we created what’s called the Crime Severity Index, and for that we look at the total volume and the seriousness of the offence,” said Warren Silver with the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

The CSI also takes population into consideration.

A drop in break-and-enters, child pornography and motor vehicle thefts were among the top reasons for the overall change.

Alberta is also experiencing a drop in the CSI, at a six-year low.

Calgary dropped 14 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

“One of the trends that’s standing out for us is a fairly significant decrease in property-related crimes, and then just kind of the overall general trend downwards is very encouraging for us,” said Insp. Travis Juska with the Calgary Police Service.

However, hate crimes are on the rise, according to the report.

The number of reported hate crimes has increased for six years in a row, more than doubling in 2018.

“We’re seeing a significant increase in hate crime reporting. It’s for a number of different factors: geopolitical challenges across the globe, issues in society. One of the things that I wish to highlight is the fact that reporting is going up so much because it’s becoming societally intolerable to watch hate crime,” Juska said.

Shoplifting trends have also shifted in Calgary.

“It’s now dubbed organized retail crime. Rather than just a singular person stealing for their own gain, you’re seeing them do it as part of a larger network or doing it on behalf of somebody else, be it high-level fragrances, clothing, meat, alcohol, tools or things that are then being resold on secondary sites or kind of in an underground market setting,” Juska said.