Photo: Kyle Wilson · CC BY-SA 4.0Colwood records less crime per resident than 68% of Canadian towns
Behind the grade sit 13.4 violent incidents and 20.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Of the two halves, violence comes to 63.6 and other offences to 44.7, beside norms of 89.4 and 56. Measured on crime the police covering Colwood reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of B+: #36 of 251 in British Columbia. By contrast, 4 of the 5 towns next door with figures record less 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 Colwood
Under the British Columbia norm
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Colwood, 49.8. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Colwood comes 14th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Colwood records 5.8 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
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 Colwood’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: #36 of 251 in British Columbia and #534 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.
What police record in Colwood, by type
Against the typical town its size, Colwood runs highest on mischief (5.8 per 1,000 against 3.7) and sexual assault (1 per 1,000 against 0.8). Theft under $5,000 and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.7 | 0.4 | 26% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.3 | 0.2 | 62% |
| Breaking and entering | 28.7 | 1.3 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.2 | 20% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.7 | 0.5 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.3 | 0.4 | 8% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 168.3 | 7.6 | 17% |
| Mischief | 128 | 5.8 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 7.7 | 0.3 | 61% |
| Administration of justice violations | 538.3 | 24.3 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 19.7 | 0.9 | 44% |
| Drug violations | 13.3 | 0.6 | 58% |
| Impaired driving | 53 | 2.4 | 53% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Colwood is 14th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| 2 | Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver British Columbia | 22,031 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Port Perry Ontario | 23,928 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 12 | Uxbridge Ontario | 22,618 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 13 | Huntsville Ontario | 23,948 | 48.2 | 68.1 | B+ |
| 14 | Colwood British Columbia | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
| 15 | Saint-Lambert Quebec | 23,355 | 53.7 | 69.5 | B |
| 16 | Tillsonburg Ontario | 21,450 | 54.1 | 63.3 | B |
| 17 | Port Colborne Ontario | 21,921 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 18 | Pitt Meadows British Columbia | 20,892 | 60.8 | 59.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Salmon Arm British Columbia | 20,891 | 92.4 | 66.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Cranbrook British Columbia | 22,703 | 149.5 | 147.3 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 304.6 | 362 | 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 Colwood in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Colwood recorded about 300 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 450 a year and other violations 710 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
From 2023 to 2025, Colwood’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
From 50.8 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 49.1 in 2024. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 69.5 (2023), then 60 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Colwood | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 49.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 50.8 | 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 Colwood, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Colwood
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colwood | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
| Langford | 59,664 | 65.9 | 65.9 | B− |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | — | — | — |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| Metchosin | 5,207 | 40.7 | 41.3 | A− |
| Victoria | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
Of 5 places nearby with their own figures, 2 come in under Colwood. The nearest of them, Esquimalt (6.3 km away), scores 43 against 49.8.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- 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.”
Questions about safety in Colwood
Is Colwood safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Colwood’s Crime Severity Index stands at 49.8 for 2023–2025. Its police record 13.4 violent incidents and 20.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Colwood?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (28.6 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 7.6, and assault, at 5.8, follow.
Is crime going up in Colwood?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 50.8 to 49.5.
How much of Colwood’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 39% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 44% of violent crime and 36% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Colwood’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).