Photo: Historyted at English Wikipedia · Public domainArmstrong records more crime per resident than 62% of Canadian towns
A Crime Severity Index of 73.6, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. What’s more, a Safety Grade of C+ follows from crime the police covering Armstrong reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #105 of 251 in British Columbia. Year on year, 15.0 violent incidents and 21.0 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Its 5 neighbours with figures all record less crime per resident.
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 Armstrong
Less severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Armstrong stood at 93.5, by 2025 at 58.6. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Armstrong comes 29th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 23% for Armstrong (51% violent, 11% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Near the British Columbia middle
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Armstrong, 73.6. 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.
Armstrong: C+ for safety, and why
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: #105 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,555 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
From 2023 to 2025, Armstrong’s index dropped 37%
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (93.5); 2025 was the lightest, at 58.6. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Armstrong | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 58.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 68.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 93.5 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Armstrong, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Armstrong, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Armstrong runs highest on sexual assault (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.9), mischief (6.3 per 1,000 against 4.9) and fraud (5.6 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 10.3 | 1.8 | 0% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 1.4 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 30 | 5.3 | 14% |
| Mischief | 35.3 | 6.3 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 21.7 | 3.8 | 72% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Drug violations | 3 | 0.5 | — |
| Impaired driving | 11 | 2 | 52% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.2 | — |
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
By its index, Armstrong stands 29th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Ferris Ontario | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Spallumcheen British Columbia | 5,843 | 51.3 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Juan de Fuca (Part 1) British Columbia | 5,439 | 63.5 | 90.2 | B− |
| 24 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 65 | 107 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Stonewall Manitoba | 5,443 | 66.3 | 59.7 | B− |
| 27 | Wolfville Nova Scotia | 5,587 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Shediac New Brunswick | 5,699 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 29 | Armstrong British Columbia | 5,643 | 73.6 | 83.6 | C+ |
| 30 | Sainte-Martine Quebec | 5,884 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| 31 | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Quebec | 5,393 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 32 | Electoral Area B, Peace River British Columbia | 5,814 | 81.8 | 82.5 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Osoyoos British Columbia | 5,724 | 97.9 | 68.6 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 Armstrong in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 84 violent incidents a year on Armstrong’s police records (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.
Property crime adds about 120 a year and other violations 81 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Armstrong
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong | 5,643 | 73.6 | 83.6 | C+ |
| Spallumcheen | 5,843 | 51.3 | 59.9 | B+ |
| Enderby | 3,292 | 62.6 | 70.8 | B− |
| Electoral Area D, Columbia-Shuswap | 4,829 | 45 | 53.2 | A− |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan | 3,415 | 61.3 | 74.1 | B− |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan | 5,029 | 61.3 | 74.1 | B− |
The places around Armstrong all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Spallumcheen (3.5 km away), scores 51.3 against 73.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Armstrong
Is Armstrong safe?
Armstrong scores 73.6 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 15 violent incidents and 21 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Armstrong?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 11.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (6.3) and fraud (5.6).
Is crime going up in Armstrong?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 37%, to 58.6 from 93.5.
How much of Armstrong’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 23% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 51% of violent crime and 11% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Armstrong alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).