A number of Saskatchewan cities didn't make the list due to their size, but have some of the highest CSI scores in Canada.
For Saskatchewan communities above 10,000 population, North Battleford’s CSI topped the province again. It went up to 480.72, an increase of 11.89%. Its violent crime severity score was 518.42, down 7.46%. Non-violent crime severity was 466.02, up from 381.68.
Prince Albert again recorded a high CSI score of 263.44 and a violent crime severity of 413.51.
For other Saskatchewan communities, Moose Jaw’s CSI score was 127.17, Yorkton was 147.59, Estevan 91.13, Weyburn 77.34 and Swift Current 50.23.
HOW DID THE PANDEMIC IMPACT CRIME?
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact Canada's economy, health care system and society in general throughout 2021, changing how people interact, socialize, learn, work and consume. Overall, while police-reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI), was virtually unchanged in the second year of the pandemic, there were notable shifts in the nature of reported crimes.
The Violent CSI rose 5% in 2021, reaching a level higher than that before the beginning of the pandemic. The increase in violent crime compared with 2020 was attributable in part to higher rates of level 1 sexual assault, harassing and threatening behaviours, and homicide, among others.
Additionally, the number of hate-motivated crimes reported by police increased by 27% to 3,360 incidents. Higher numbers of hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation and race or ethnicity accounted for the majority of the increase.
In contrast, the Non-Violent CSI—which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences—continued to decline (-3%), after a 9% drop in 2020. These two consecutive decreases follow five years of increases. Much of the decline in 2021 was because of lower rates of breaking and entering (-10%) and theft of $5,000 or under (-4%).
The overall CSI changed from 73.9 in 2020 to 73.7 in 2021. This follows a 7% drop in the CSI in 2020, the first decrease after five years of successive increases. The CSI measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada and has a base index value of 100 for 2006. The police-reported crime rate, which measures only the volume of crime, was 5,375 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021, up 1% from 2020.
Police-reported metrics include only those incidents that come to the attention of police, either through reporting by the public or proactive policing. As a complementary measure, results from the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians' Safety (Victimization) showed that just under one-third (29%) of violent and non-violent incidents were reported to police. Similarly, just over one-fifth (22%) of incidents perceived to be motivated by hate were reported to police.