Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPer resident, Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap records more crime than 90% of Canadian towns
Typical years here bring 13.9 violent incidents plus 35.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Split in two, the index gives 184.8 for violence and 131.5 for everything else (normally 86.4 and 62.8). Graded on crime the police covering Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety.
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. Measured across the Sicamous detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
Crime per resident, visitors uncounted
About 49% of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap records 9.6 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Over the British Columbia norm
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 145.9 in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap. 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 Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s grade
How sure: Less sure, as Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 7 km away.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What police record in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, by type
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap runs highest on mischief (9.6 per 1,000 against 4.2) and motor vehicle theft (4 per 1,000 against 2.4). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 8.3 | 1.9 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 1.2 | 57% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17.3 | 4 | 2% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 48 | 10.9 | 10% |
| Mischief | 42.3 | 9.6 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 17.7 | 4 | 89% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.3 | 1.2 | 43% |
| Drug violations | 12.7 | 2.9 | 76% |
| Impaired driving | 9.3 | 2.1 | 65% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment nearest Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, 4,440 residents: around 61 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.
Add about 160 property crimes and 160 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Three years of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s crime index
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (188.1) and 2025 the trough (103.6). The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 103.6 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 188.1 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 146 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap | 1,518 | 145.9 | 184.8 | D |
| Sicamous (9 km) | 2,854 | 145.9 | 184.8 | D |
| Electoral Area F, North Okanagan (31 km) | 4,969 | 62.6 | 70.8 | B− |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap (32 km) | 3,475 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| Salmon Arm (33 km) | 20,891 | 92.4 | 66.8 | C |
| Blind Bay (34 km) | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
The places around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Electoral Area F, North Okanagan (31.1 km away), scores 62.6 against 145.9. Its police also cover one neighbouring place, which carries the same index and is left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–34 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- Read with care. About 4,437 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
Questions about safety in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
Is Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap comes to 145.9. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 13.9 violent incidents and 35.3 property crimes. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 17.4, theft under $5,000 at 10.9 and mischief at 9.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap?
The reverse: 146 in 2023 came down to 103.6 by 2025, 29% lower. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 42% of violent crime and 32% of everything else, 36% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap 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).