Photo: Kiyoteru Awaji · CC BY 4.0Per resident, Clearwater records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 69.5 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. What’s more, the overall Safety Grade is C+ (#80 of 251 in British Columbia), which means close to the middle of Canadian towns, judged on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. In a usual year, 11.8 violent incidents and 21.4 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 27%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%.
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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Clearwater detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Clearwater
Non-violent crime leads the index
Violent crime scores 47 on Clearwater’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 79.1 against 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Clearwater places 25th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Close to British Columbia’s typical town
Clearwater’s index of 69.5 compares with 83.2 for the typical town in British Columbia. 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 Clearwater’s C+ for safety
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: #80 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,358 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.
Which crimes make up Clearwater’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Clearwater runs highest on drug offences (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and mischief (5.8 per 1,000 against 4.9). Break and enter 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 | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 9.7 | 2.1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9.7 | 2 | 21% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 24.7 | 5.2 | 13% |
| Mischief | 27.7 | 5.8 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 10.3 | 2.2 | 61% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.7 | 1 | — |
| Drug violations | 10 | 2.1 | 37% |
| Impaired driving | 14.7 | 3.1 | 80% |
| 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.
Clearwater is 25th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Anmore British Columbia | 2,508 | 38.4 | 34.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Nanton Alberta | 2,522 | 63.7 | 46 | B− |
| 23 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| 24 | Esterhazy Saskatchewan | 2,513 | 66.4 | 84.4 | B− |
| 25 | Clearwater British Columbia | 2,500 | 69.5 | 47 | C+ |
| 26 | Cap-Chat Quebec | 2,519 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
| 27 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Chase British Columbia | 2,591 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 2,597 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | 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 Clearwater in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 56 violent incidents a year in the 4,770-resident police area around Clearwater, 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 100 property crimes, plus 85 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Clearwater’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
From 109.8 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 47.1 in 2025. 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 | Clearwater | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 47.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 51.5 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 109.8 | 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 Clearwater, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Clearwater
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | 2,500 | 69.5 | 47 | C+ |
| Electoral Area A (Wells Gray Country), Thompson-Nicola (12 km) | 1,766 | 69.5 | 47 | C+ |
| Barriere (52 km) | 1,913 | 71.8 | 86.9 | C+ |
| Electoral Area O (Lower North Thompson), Thompson-Nicola (63 km) | 1,653 | 71.8 | 86.9 | C+ |
Clearwater has the lowest index of the places around it. A neighbour policed by the same service carries the same figure, so it isn’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Clearwater with figures are 12–63 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Town and surroundings together. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Clearwater’s are shared with its surroundings.
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- How serious, not how safe. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Few people behind the figures. With roughly 4,773 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in Clearwater
Is Clearwater safe?
Clearwater scores 69.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 11.8 violent incidents and 21.4 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Clearwater?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 9.2 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (5.8) and assault (5.4).
Is crime going up in Clearwater?
It went down 57% between 2023 and 2025, from 109.8 to 47.1. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Clearwater’s crime do police solve?
About 27% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 37% of violent and 24% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Clearwater together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).