Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY 2.5Recorded crime per resident is lower in Central Saanich than in 92% of Canadian towns
The local count comes to 7.2 violent incidents and 15.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Violence accounts for an index of 33.1 and other offences for 35.6, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. The grade is A, built on crime the police covering Central Saanich reported from 2023 to 2025: #3 of 251 in British Columbia. On top of that, each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records more 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 Central Saanich
Lighter than British Columbia’s middle
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Central Saanich scores 34.7. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Central Saanich is 6th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Violent crime scores 33.1 on Central Saanich’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 35.6 against 56. By type ↓
Rising since 2023
From 34.4 in 2023 to 40.2 in 2025: that is Central Saanich’s index, against 69.5 and 60 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
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 Central Saanich’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: #3 of 251 in British Columbia and #174 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.
Which crimes make up Central Saanich’s figures
Theft under $5,000 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 | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 18.3 | 1 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 11 | 0.6 | 25% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7 | 0.4 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 89.7 | 4.9 | 26% |
| Mischief | 64 | 3.5 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 35.3 | 1.9 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 9 | 0.5 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 8.3 | 0.5 | 96% |
| Impaired driving | 40.7 | 2.2 | 75% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.7 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
In Central Saanich, up 17% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Of the years charted, 2025 weighed most (40.2) and 2024 least (29.4). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Central Saanich | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 29.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 34.4 | 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 Central Saanich, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Central Saanich comes 6th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Deux-Montagnes Quebec | 18,516 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| 4 | Port Hope Ontario | 18,446 | 31.2 | 36.4 | A |
| 5 | Stayner Ontario | 16,571 | 31.5 | 35.3 | A |
| 6 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| 7 | Loyalist Ontario | 19,761 | 35.7 | 52.3 | A |
| 8 | Mont-Saint-Hilaire Quebec | 19,447 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 9 | Saint-Basile-le-Grand Quebec | 17,146 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Esquimalt British Columbia | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Lake Country British Columbia | 17,637 | 67.1 | 59.9 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Sooke British Columbia | 17,248 | 81.4 | 79.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | 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 Central Saanich in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 130 violent incidents a year on Central Saanich’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.
And about 280 property crimes, plus 140 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 Central Saanich
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Saanich | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| East Saanich 2 | 1,962 | — | — | — |
| Highlands | 2,753 | 92.7 | 168.2 | C |
| Sidney | 13,445 | 68.4 | 72.4 | B− |
| North Saanich | 12,986 | 37.5 | 32.9 | A |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley | 5,156 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
Central Saanich has the lowest index of the places around it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 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.”
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Central Saanich
Is Central Saanich safe?
The short answer is an index of 34.7 for Central Saanich (2023–2025), built from 7.2 violent incidents and 15.4 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Central Saanich?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come fraud at 4.5 and other Criminal Code offences at 4.1.
Is crime going up in Central Saanich?
Yes: the index rose 17%, from 34.4 in 2023 to 40.2 in 2025.
How much of Central Saanich’s crime do police solve?
35%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 51% and non-violent crime at 29%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Central Saanich 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).