Photo: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0Abbotsford records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 107.5 and other offences for 92.2, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2. Its letter for safety is C−, worked out from crime the police covering Abbotsford reported over 2023 to 2025: #197 of 251 in British Columbia. What’s more, typical years here bring 14.9 violent incidents plus 35.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 10.8 plus 25.1 in the typical town its size. Steady over the three years, the index read 99.4 in 2023 and 94.6 in 2025.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What stands out about safety in Abbotsford
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Abbotsford is 33rd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Less crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 21% of crime in Abbotsford ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 33% of violent crime and 16% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 38%. Questions ↓
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Abbotsford records 1.5 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Much like British Columbia’s towns
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Abbotsford scores 96. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Abbotsford’s grade
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #197 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,910 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up Abbotsford’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Abbotsford runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (0.7 per 1,000 against 0.04), drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.9) and robbery (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 100 | 0.6 | 24% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 80.3 | 0.5 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 25 | 0.1 | 41% |
| Robbery | 102.7 | 0.6 | 35% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7.7 | 0.04 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 35.3 | 0.2 | 23% |
| Breaking and entering | 514.3 | 3 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 65.7 | 0.4 | 60% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 360.3 | 2.1 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 109.7 | 0.6 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 3,190.7 | 18.5 | 17% |
| Mischief | 931.3 | 5.4 | 10% |
| Weapons violations | 122 | 0.7 | 62% |
| Administration of justice violations | 488 | 2.8 | 77% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 152 | 0.9 | 39% |
| Drug violations | 265 | 1.5 | 27% |
| Impaired driving | 531.7 | 3.1 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.7 | 0.03 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Abbotsford is 33rd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakville Ontario | 243,107 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| 20 | Coquitlam British Columbia | 173,599 | 59.8 | 61.6 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador | 128,693 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| 31 | Langley British Columbia | 163,885 | 82.4 | 77.3 | C |
| 32 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| 33 | Abbotsford British Columbia | 175,358 | 96 | 107.5 | C− |
| 34 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 113.6 | 209.7 | C− |
| 35 | Nanaimo British Columbia | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| 36 | Richmond British Columbia | 239,584 | 124.3 | 59.7 | D |
| 37 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 125.5 | 119.7 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 148.2 | 134.8 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Abbotsford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 2,560 violent incidents a year reached Abbotsford’s police, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Add about 6,050 property crimes and 2,210 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Abbotsford, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (99.4); 2024 was the lightest, at 94. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Abbotsford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 94.6 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 94 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 99.4 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Abbotsford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Abbotsford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbotsford | 175,358 | 96 | 107.5 | C− |
| Mission | 47,280 | 114.1 | 134.5 | C− |
| Electoral Area G, Fraser Valley | 1,808 | 81 | 95 | C |
Abbotsford sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Electoral Area G, Fraser Valley, 14.4 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 81 to 96.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- How serious, not how safe. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
Questions about safety in Abbotsford
Is Abbotsford safe?
Abbotsford’s Crime Severity Index is 96 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 14.9 violent incidents and 35.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Abbotsford?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (18.5 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 7, and assault, at 6.5, follow.
Is crime going up in Abbotsford?
Hardly at all, from 99.4 in 2023 to 94.6 in 2025.
How much of Abbotsford’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 21% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 33% of violent crime and 16% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Abbotsford’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).