Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainRecorded crime per resident is lower in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay than in 91% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 32 for violence and 37.7 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). On the record of crime the police covering Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes A for safety: #4 of 251 in British Columbia. Add to that, its police logs show 8.0 violent incidents and 16.2 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. About 20% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 34% for the typical Canadian 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Nelson detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay
More people here than live here
With 35% of its homes not lived in all year, Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay counts its crime against a smaller year-round population than the one that is there in season. How to read it ↓
Easing since 2023
From 43.1 in 2023 to 28.5 in 2025: that is Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Lighter than British Columbia’s middle
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 35.8 in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay stands 2nd, the lowest first. 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.
Inside Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s A for safety
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 42 km from Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, 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: #4 of 251 in British Columbia and #192 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.
Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s index fell 34% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (43.1); the low point came in 2025, at 28.5. 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 | Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 28.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 43.1 | 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 Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay runs highest on mischief (5.9 per 1,000 against 4.9). 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 | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 17 | 1.3 | 8% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6 | 0.4 | 38% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14.3 | 1.1 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.4 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 43.3 | 3.2 | 5% |
| Mischief | 78.7 | 5.9 | 2% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.08 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 18 | 1.3 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.3 | 0.5 | 18% |
| Drug violations | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Impaired driving | 27.7 | 2.1 | 86% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay places 2nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grey Manitoba | 2,655 | 27.2 | 39.3 | A+ |
| 2 | Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 2,668 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| 3 | Saint-Bernard Quebec | 2,680 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 4 | Eastman Quebec | 2,706 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| 5 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 2,691 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Tumbler Ridge British Columbia | 2,663 | 87.3 | 86.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay, 13,400 residents: around 110 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.
Property crime adds about 220 a year and other violations 93 (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 Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay | 2,668 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay (30 km) | 1,672 | 36.8 | 46.9 | A |
| Creston (32 km) | 5,976 | 111.2 | 103.1 | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay (34 km) | 5,243 | 36.8 | 46.9 | A |
| Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay (45 km) | 4,309 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| Nelson (47 km) | 12,126 | 100.4 | 98.4 | C− |
Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay has the lowest index of the places around it. One place nearby is policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay with figures are 30–47 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- 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. 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.
Questions about safety in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay
Is Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 35.8 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay stands, with 8 violent and 16.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay?
Mischief is the most common, at 5.9 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (3.8) and fraud (3.8).
Is crime going up in Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 34%, to 28.5 from 43.1.
How much of Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 20% of crime (46% of violent crime, 12% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay and everywhere else it polices.
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).