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Saskatoon holds the distinction of being one of the worst cities in the country for severe crime, according to the crime severity index from Statistics Canada.
For the third year in a row, severe crime has risen in Saskatchewan’s biggest city, placing it in eighth place on the StatsCan 2023 list of 41 Canadian cities that was released on Friday.
The crime severity index looks at changes in the level of crime from year to year. Crimes are assigned a weight based on their seriousness, which is based on actual sentences handed down by the courts.
The 2023 index for Saskatoon increased 2.15 per cent, from 78.76 to 80.45 — based off crimes per 100,000 residents.
Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride said the index revealed some good news, but also admitted the city faced challenges.
“The good news is in regard to the ranking with other areas in Canada, the numbers from 2022 placed Saskatoon at number six, (and) in 2023 that number fell to eighth place,” McBride said.
“The challenge before us is in regard to the specific Saskatoon numbers. The numbers for non-violent crime remained relativity the same, (but) the numbers for violent crime within Saskatoon increased slightly,” he said.
The non-violent crime index rose by 3.11 per cent to 73.4, while the severity for violent crime was up 0.39 per cent. From 2021 to 2022 the severe crime index rose 6.06 per cent.
Saskatoon Police Service has its own way of monitoring crime, but McBride said the data from Statistics Canada is used as a tool.
“It helps us examine where we stand in relation to the country as a whole. The most important piece of that data for me is how we fare year by year. What’s our current state and how does that compare to the year before” he said.
“Of course we compare that to our own data. What we received with regards to the crime severity index was no surprise. It’s somewhat valuable, but we certainly don’t rely on it exclusively.”
The city is expected to see an increase in 2024 index, with 11 homicides already recorded.
A whole city solution
McBride said that reducing crime would take an entire city approach and people working together.
“My message is it takes a whole of city approach, a whole of community commitment to address some of these things,” he said.
“The way forward, I believe, is through partnerships and collaboration; from understanding what our residents in Saskatoon are experiencing; and developing to address those things.”
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