Not long ago, the metropolitan census area of Lethbridge, Alta., sat at the top Crime Severity Index (CSI) in Canada.
In 2024, a drop of almost 20 percent brought Southern Alberta community below from the top ranked cities.
Now, Statistics Canada has released the 2025 numbers and Lethbridge holds a score of 107.7, making it the sixth highest metro area in Canada from the communities listed by the government organization.
The 2025 result is an increase of just under two percent.
“I think (Lethbridge) is safe, but what makes it feel unsafe is people walking around with (drug paraphernalia), you know? Drinking fentanyl,” said Lethbridge resident Brett Weaselhead.
For years, the city center has often been seen as a dangerous area, and some still feel that way.
“I just wish downtown wasn’t so scary sometimes,” said Andrew Fleming, a city resident since the 1980s.
However, Lethbridge police argue that the CSI high score is not a perfect science.
Get daily national news
Get Canada’s daily news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the top news of the day.
“The statistics are very clear. Crime is down,” said Shahn Mehdizadeh, Lethbridge’s police chief. “Some of the violent crimes that are fueling our CSI have increased.”
The LPS pointed to several examples of minor crimes that caused an increase in the score.
One such example is the alleged October 2025 incident at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena that resulted in five charges of attempted murder.
Lethbridge police say the city’s overall crime rate decreased by 13 percent and clearance rates increased by almost four percent, meaning more crimes were solved in 2025.
“We have a trend that is very positive over the last six years that speaks to that,” Mehdizadeh said.
Still, the fact remains that Lethbridge ranks sixth highest in the entire country — and that’s disappointing to those who have worked tirelessly to stop crime and invite business to the city.
“That reputation sticks around and we’re still suffering from the hangover of all the negative social activity that was downtown,” said Sarah Amies, executive director of Downtown BRZ.
Police say retail crime was up even in 2025, but Amies says the city center was not affected much and the core of the city is safer than it has been in years.
Over the past two years, LPS has increased its presence downtown, and that alone may have spurred CSI, according to Mayor Blaine Hyggen.
“The more the police are doing their job and the more arrests are coming in, it goes against our CSI. As sad as it is, if we had the police out there doing absolutely nothing, think what our CSI would be? It would be way down,” Hyggen said.
Amies says there’s something to that, too.
“(LPS) increased the contingent from one police officer to seven, so it absolutely makes sense that conditions are improving downtown because the police presence is there.”
Officers say an increase in human trafficking-related charges, from zero to four from 2024 to 2025, also caused the CSI to rise.
While serious crime is a concern, Mehdizadeh says overall numbers are improving all the time.
“I’m optimistic, very optimistic that our city is getting safer and safer every year.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
