Albertans most likely to demand harsher sentences for crime: survey
While most Canadians still say they feel safe at home, a new survey reveals a stark reality: more than half believe crime has increased in their area over the past year.
Author: Quinn Patrick
While most Canadians still say they feel safe at home, a new survey reveals a stark reality: more than half believe crime has increased in their area over the past year, while Albertans were the most likely to demand authorities dished out harsher sentences.
Scope Research, a Toronto-based public opinion research firm, conducted a survey in January with residents of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia to better understand their differing views on public safety.
“Our data shows a bit of a contradiction,” wrote Scope’s lead researcher Meghan O’Reilly in a press release on Tuesday. “Most people told us they haven’t been victims of crime recently, but the majority of respondents from each province say they worry about it. There is a real sense that crime is on the rise, even if it hasn’t hit them personally yet.”
Roughly half of respondents in all three provinces reported worrying about becoming a victim at least sometimes, while fewer than 30 per cent said they rarely or never worry about it.
Alberta was the only province where respondents were split on personal experience with crime: 49 per cent of residents said they or someone close to them had been a victim in the past year, compared with 37 per cent in Ontario and 35 per cent in B.C.
With regards to solutions on how crime could be best mitigated, “all three provinces agree that harsher punishments would help.”
However, a clear provincial divide emerged regarding belief in rehabilitation. Ontario and B.C. respondents were split on whether rehabilitation or punishment is more effective in reducing reoffending.
Albertans were far less likely to support rehabilitation, with only 37 per cent believing it more effective than punishment in reducing reoffending. Conversely, 69 per cent favoured implementing tougher sentences to reduce crime.
“Across the board, about half feel that crime in their area has increased over the last year, but they also told us they feel safe in their communities,” said O’Reilly. “So there is a bit of a disconnect, and what seems like some underlying concern about the direction things are heading in.”
Albertans also reported the highest rate for taking precautions to prevent becoming victims of crime, at 62 per cent.
That figure was slightly lower in B.C. and Ontario, both at 54 per cent.
This could be in response to Alberta having the most residents who reported either being a victim of crime, or knowing someone who was, within the last year, at 49 per cent.
Ontario had the next highest rate at 37 per cent, followed by B.C. at 36 per cent.
Scope’s polling was collected through three online surveys from January 20 to 22, 2026, with a total of 1,500 responses collected in Ontario and Alberta, and 1,502 in B.C.
“Results were weighted by age and gender using data from the Canadian census, to ensure that the sample reflects the demographic makeup of each target province’s population,” it said.