Saskatchewan has topped the list with the help of its two major cities in the police-reported Crime Statistics for 2011.

Saskatchewan holds the highest crime rates for major assault, break and enter, and motor vehicle theft, as well as the second-highest homicide rate out of all the provinces.

Regina and Saskatoon hold the top two spots for the crime severity index and the violent crime severity index for major cities in Canada.

The numbers did not surprise Saskatoon Police Chief Clive Weighill.

"We've seen crime come down significantly in the last eight or nine years even though we see that we are still one of the higher cities statistically wise," he said.

"We are down eight per cent in the crime index and 14 per cent in the violent crime."

Weighill said they are working in the right direction but Saskatoon will never be fully rid of crime.

"As long as you have a large marginalized population that are living in poverty and poor housing and the socioeconomic conditions that we face, we are going to have crime," he said.

Although social factors may lead to crime it is not situated to specific core areas Weighill said.

"We've seen quite a wide distribution of armed robberies and robberies right throughout the city. I wouldn't say it is centred on one particular area," he said.

Even though the city and province maintain high spots on crime lists, Weighill assured that statistics are going down.

"Saskatoon is a very safe city," he said.

kmalone@rawlco.com