Calgary crime rose 5.81% in 2025 but remains far below 1990s peaks, experts say

Crime in Calgary increased by 5.81 percent in 2025, but the jump sits comfortably within normal year-to-year variation, according to Mount Royal University justice studies professor Doug King.

Statistics Canada released the data Wednesday, July 22. The broader context: crime in Calgary today hovers around two-thirds of the peak levels seen in 1990, King said. "Compared to what it was like in the 1980s and 1990s, we are much less likely to be a victim of a crime, and crime severity has been dropping," he noted.

The long view matters more than the year-to-year jump, King emphasized. "We rush to compare ourselves with what it was last year. That's important to do, but the bigger comparisons are if you look at it over a longer period of time."

Still, Calgary's crime rate remains higher than other major Canadian cities. Toronto and Montreal report considerably lower rates, King said, with Vancouver sitting somewhere in between.

King pointed to several factors driving crime in younger communities. Areas with larger populations of people under age 25 often see higher crime rates due to organized crime and substance use. "When people get substance use disorder, they have to buy their stuff that they're going to use, and oftentimes that turns into petty crime," he said. Rural areas of the province historically see elevated crime rates because criminals target zones with lower police presence.

As Calgary approaches two million residents, King said crime trends will hinge on ongoing investment in the justice system. "The key to crime rates and keeping them where they are right now is in large part having to do with how much we fund our police," he said. "We just got to keep doing it, and it sounds like this council is engaged in that quite actively, so that's positive."

The data covers 2025 and does not include crimes from 2026, including a spree of extortions targeting the South Asian community that has already surfaced this year.