Home security in Calgary: break-in data, alarm permits and installers

Quick answer: The Calgary Police Service recorded 1,296 break and enters at homes in 2025, 5.8% more than in 2024 but 12% fewer than in 2023. Every home with an alarm in Calgary needs a Calgary Police alarm permit, and under the Alarm Services Bylaw 31M95 alarm companies pay escalating penalties for repeat false alarms: nothing for the first in 12 months, then $75, $150 and so on up to $675.

Break and enter in Calgary: the official figures

The Calgary Police Service’s 4th Quarter 2025 Statistical Report gives the full-year position:

Break and enter type	2023	2024	2025
Dwelling (homes)	1,480	1,225	1,296
Commercial	3,562	2,834	2,870
Other break and enters	1,400	1,131	1,166
Unlawfully in a residence	59	67	96
All break and enters	6,532	5,280	5,450

Measured against population, the break and enter rate was 348.8 per 100,000 people in 2025, almost unchanged from 349.7 in 2024 and well below 603.4 in 2022. The report counts by the most serious offence in each incident, and around one home break-in in five (18.8% in 2025) was cleared. In mid-2025 Calgary Police warned of a rise in overnight home break-ins while residents were asleep, so arming the alarm at night matters here.

Home break-ins are only about a quarter of the total, so the headline figure overstates the risk to a typical house. Detached garages and sheds are worth securing too; our shed, garage and garden security guide covers them.

Alarm permits and false alarm penalties in Calgary

Calgary’s Alarm Services Bylaw 31M95 regulates alarm users and licenses the alarm companies themselves:

Rule	Detail
Alarm permit	Anyone with an alarm in a home or business must have a Calgary Police alarm permit, renewed every year through the online portal. The Calgary Police information package gives the fee as $15 a year for a home ($20 for commercial), with no GST.
False alarm penalties (per 12 months)	1st: $0; 2nd: $75; 3rd: $150; 4th: $225; 5th: $300; then $75 more each time up to $675 for the 10th and later. Charged to the licensed alarm company that asked for police.
No police dispatch for	Single-zone (“one-hit”) activations, alarms without a valid or with a suspended permit, alarms within 14 days of installation, unlicensed alarm companies, and commercial premises during listed business hours.
Keyholders	The alarm company must try at least two keyholders before calling police.
Always attended	Panic, hold-up and duress alarms, and verified alarm activations.
Disputes	A penalty can be disputed within six weeks by emailing the Alarm Bylaw Unit; no payment is needed during the review.

When the phased changes were announced, Calgary Police said they were answering about 45 alarm calls a day and 96% were false. The penalties go to the alarm company, but most contracts allow it to pass them on, so ask. Because a single-zone activation is not dispatched, make sure your system has enough sensors to create a second zone, such as a door contact plus an interior motion detector.

Doorbell cameras and privacy

The federal private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, does not apply to an individual who collects personal information for personal or domestic purposes only (section 4(2)(b)), so a camera that protects your own home is not regulated the way a shop camera is. That changes if the camera is used for a business, or run by a landlord, condominium corporation or property manager in shared areas. In Alberta, businesses and landlords are covered by Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act, which the federal Privacy Commissioner lists as substantially similar to PIPEDA, overseen by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s guidelines for overt video surveillance by organisations are a useful yardstick anyway: record only what you need, keep cameras off neighbours’ windows and yards, put up a notice, and delete footage you do not need. Practical steps: use privacy zones, switch off audio on cameras that face the street or a shared hallway, and keep a note of who can view the recordings. Our guides cover privacy zones, cameras in rented homes and police requests for doorbell footage in Canada.

Typical alarm and camera prices

We have not found an official Calgary price survey, so start with the national ranges in our Canada home security costs guide. HomeStars’ cost guide (updated August 2026) puts an installed security alarm system at $260 to $900, a fully integrated alarm and camera system at $1,300 to $2,650, and a 4-camera bundle at $780 to $2,080, with camera installation labour at $130 to $400 per camera. Add any police permit fee, allow for false-alarm charges, and compare at least two written quotes for the same equipment list and the same monitoring plan. For the full cost over several years, see our five-year cost guide.

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How to choose an alarm installer in Calgary

City alarm licence. Bylaw 31M95 requires alarm agencies and their alarm agents to be licensed by the City (2026 fees: $172 new, $131 renewal). Police will not be dispatched for an unlicensed alarm company, so ask for the licence number.
Provincial licence for responders. Alberta’s Security Services and Investigators Act requires alarm responders, security guards and patrol staff to hold a security service worker licence. If the company offers guard response, ask for it.
Your permit. Ask whether the installer registers the permit for you or leaves it to you. You need it before police will be sent.
Penalties passed on. Ask whether false alarm penalties are passed on to you and at what point.
Contract terms. Minimum term, automatic renewal, equipment ownership and early termination fees. Try our monitoring contract comparison tool.

Alarm and camera installers in Calgary

These independent businesses appear in public business listings for the Calgary area and describe themselves as installing alarms, cameras or both. We left out telecom and national brands, dealer branches and lead-generation sites. We have not checked their work, prices, licences or insurance, and none of them has paid to appear. Ask each company for its City of Calgary alarm agency licence number.