Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Castlegar than in 81% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 94.1 for violence and 113.7 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). The grade is C−, built on crime the police covering Castlegar reported from 2023 to 2025: #204 of 251 in British Columbia. What’s more, its 3 neighbours with figures all record less crime per resident. Violence and property crime split as 20.4 violent incidents and 44.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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 Castlegar
Mischief: high for a town its size
Castlegar records 19.6 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Castlegar stands 36th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Castlegar’s two halves part ways: 94.1 for violence (typical 85.7) and 113.7 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Heavier than British Columbia’s middle
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 107.5 in Castlegar. 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 Castlegar’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: #204 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,996 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.
Castlegar’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Castlegar runs highest on mischief (19.6 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (1.8 per 1,000 against 0.7) and fraud (7.1 per 1,000 against 4.9). Sexual assault and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 0.6 | 18% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.5 | 26% |
| Breaking and entering | 24.3 | 2.6 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.5 | 46% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 0.6 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.3 | 0.7 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 114 | 12.4 | 14% |
| Mischief | 179.7 | 19.6 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 87 | 9.5 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.3 | 0.9 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 16.3 | 1.8 | 41% |
| Impaired driving | 39.7 | 4.3 | 57% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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.
Castlegar comes 36th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanley Manitoba | 9,929 | 27.2 | 39.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Kimberley British Columbia | 9,037 | 45.9 | 44.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | 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+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Newfoundland and Labrador | 9,167 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| 34 | Olds Alberta | 9,653 | 85.6 | 86.2 | C |
| 35 | Stony Mountain Manitoba | 9,180 | 100.9 | 127 | C− |
| 36 | Castlegar British Columbia | 9,465 | 107.5 | 94.1 | C− |
| 37 | Saint-Rémi Quebec | 9,557 | 116.5 | 80.3 | C− |
| 38 | Oromocto New Brunswick | 9,451 | 138.7 | 183.5 | D |
| 39 | Grande Cache Alberta | 8,984 | 160.6 | 210.5 | D |
| 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 Castlegar in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 190 violent incidents a year on Castlegar’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.
Add about 410 property crimes and 250 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Year by year in Castlegar: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 116.2, against a low of 92.8 in 2024. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Castlegar | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 113.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 92.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 116.2 | 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 Castlegar, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Castlegar
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar | 9,465 | 107.5 | 94.1 | C− |
| Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay | 3,915 | 42.4 | 50.5 | A− |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary | 1,432 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay | 2,758 | 42.4 | 50.5 | A− |
Castlegar has the highest index of the places around it. Just 6.1 km away, Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay comes to 42.4, against 107.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Castlegar
Is Castlegar safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Castlegar scores 107.5 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 20.4 violent and 44.4 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Castlegar?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 19.9, mischief at 19.6 and theft under $5,000 at 12.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Castlegar?
The index stayed close to where it was, 116.2 in 2023 and 113.4 in 2025.
How much of Castlegar’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 21% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 32% of violent crime and 18% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Castlegar’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).