Photo: Darren Kirby from Penticton, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Campbell River than in 91% of Canadian towns
Recorded violent incidents ran at 30.5 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 74.4, against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crime the police covering Campbell River reported from 2023 to 2025: #231 of 251 in British Columbia. Split in two, the index gives 166.6 for violence and 162.8 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56).
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 Campbell River
Mischief: high for a town its size
Campbell River records 43.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Campbell River, 162.9. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Campbell River moved from 183.7 to 140.1, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Campbell River comes 37th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. 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.
Campbell River: D 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: #231 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,472 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
What police record in Campbell River, by type
Against the typical town its size, Campbell River runs highest on mischief (43.2 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (4.7 per 1,000 against 0.8) and assault (14 per 1,000 against 6.6). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 35.7 | 0.9 | 24% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 13.7 | 0.4 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 21.7 | 0.6 | 35% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7 | 0.2 | 47% |
| Other violent violations | 14 | 0.4 | 21% |
| Breaking and entering | 178.3 | 4.6 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 80.7 | 2.1 | 12% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 68 | 1.7 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 30.3 | 0.8 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 607 | 15.6 | 12% |
| Mischief | 1,682.7 | 43.2 | 33% |
| Weapons violations | 65.7 | 1.7 | 39% |
| Administration of justice violations | 308.3 | 7.9 | 71% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 92.7 | 2.4 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 182.7 | 4.7 | 32% |
| Impaired driving | 348.7 | 9 | 44% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Year by year in Campbell River: down 24%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 183.7; the lightest was 2025, at 140.1. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Campbell River | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 140.1 | 60 |
| 2024 | 164.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 183.7 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Campbell River, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Campbell River is 37th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Port Moody British Columbia | 38,285 | 43.5 | 43.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78.4 | 79.1 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | North Cowichan British Columbia | 34,525 | 99 | 124 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Timmins Ontario | 45,569 | 124.5 | 170.4 | D |
| 35 | Langley British Columbia | 35,444 | 127.5 | 145 | D |
| 36 | Courtenay British Columbia | 32,869 | 131.2 | 129 | D |
| 37 | Campbell River British Columbia | 38,300 | 162.9 | 166.6 | D |
| 38 | Penticton British Columbia | 39,068 | 164 | 142.9 | D |
| 39 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | D |
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 Campbell River in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Campbell River’s police: about 1,190 violent incidents a year over 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 2,900 property crimes, plus 1,940 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 Campbell River
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell River | 38,300 | 162.9 | 166.6 | D |
| Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona | 4,546 | 166.3 | 162.8 | D |
| Electoral Area C, Strathcona | 2,981 | 166.3 | 162.8 | D |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Campbell River.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Campbell River
Is Campbell River safe?
Its police recorded 30.5 violent incidents and 74.4 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Campbell River a Crime Severity Index of 162.9. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Campbell River?
Mischief is the most common, at 43.2 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (34.4) and theft under $5,000 (15.6).
Is crime going up in Campbell River?
Down 24%: 183.7 in 2023, 140.1 in 2025.
How much of Campbell River’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 30% of violent crime and 22% of everything else, 24% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Campbell River 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).