Photo: The Interior · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer crimes per resident are recorded in Blind Bay than in 84% of Canadian towns
About 22% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size. By contrast, it grades A− for safety on crime the police covering Blind Bay reported from 2023 to 2025: #14 of 251 in British Columbia. Violence accounts for an index of 37.4 and other offences for 42.5, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Its police logs show 8.5 violent incidents and 16.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.9 and 31.2.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Salmon Arm detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Blind Bay
Under the British Columbia norm
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Blind Bay scores 40.8. Towns its size ↓
Less severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Blind Bay stood at 48.5, by 2025 at 34.3. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Blind Bay is 11th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Blind Bay’s two halves part ways: 37.4 for violence (typical 85.7) and 42.5 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Blind Bay: A− for safety, and why
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 19 km from Blind Bay, since none reports under the town’s name.
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: #14 of 251 in British Columbia and #306 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.
Blind Bay’s crime by kind
Assault 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 | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 21 | 1.9 | 6% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.7 | 56% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 26 | 2.3 | 3% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 33.7 | 3 | 2% |
| Mischief | 51.7 | 4.6 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 15.3 | 1.4 | 74% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 14 | 1.2 | 50% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
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.
From 2023 to 2025, Blind Bay’s index dropped 29%
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 48.5, and 2025 the lightest at 34.3. 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 | Blind Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 39.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 48.5 | 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 Blind Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Blind Bay places 11th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Mono Ontario | 10,036 | 34.9 | 55.4 | A |
| 9 | Laurentian Valley Ontario | 9,714 | 36.3 | 44.5 | A |
| 10 | Saint-Zotique Quebec | 10,445 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 11 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| 12 | Mitchell Ontario | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| 13 | Wiarton Ontario | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| 14 | Lorraine Quebec | 9,721 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley British Columbia | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Shawnigan British Columbia | 9,903 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| 20 | Qualicum Beach British Columbia | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Blind Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment closest to Blind Bay, 11,100 residents, recorded about 95 violent incidents a year, 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.
And about 190 property crimes, plus 96 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Blind Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Bay | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap | 3,475 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| Salmon Arm | 20,891 | 92.4 | 66.8 | C |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Blind Bay.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Blind Bay
Is Blind Bay safe?
The short answer is an index of 40.8 for Blind Bay (2023–2025), built from 8.5 violent incidents and 16.9 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Blind Bay?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 5.8, mischief at 4.6 and assault at 3.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Blind Bay?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 29%, to 34.3 from 48.5.
How much of Blind Bay’s crime do police solve?
22%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 51% and non-violent crime at 12%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Blind Bay and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).