Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley sees less crime per resident than seven in ten Canadian towns
Of the two halves, violence comes to 61.5 and other offences to 45.1, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8. Among its 3 neighbours with figures, only one records less crime per resident. Counting crime the police covering Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades B+ for safety: #32 of 251 in British Columbia. Year on year, 11.9 violent incidents and 18.5 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical 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. Measured across the Comox Valley detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley
Lower than most of British Columbia
Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley’s index of 49.5 compares with 83.2 for the typical town in British Columbia. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley places 16th from the lowest index. 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.
The B+ for Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley, and how it is built
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: #32 of 251 in British Columbia and #521 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.
What police record in Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley, by type
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley runs highest on mischief (6.8 per 1,000 against 4.9). 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 | 0.7 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 55.7 | 1.8 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7 | 0.2 | 39% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 27 | 0.9 | 20% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 12 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 148 | 4.7 | 8% |
| Mischief | 213.3 | 6.8 | 20% |
| Weapons violations | 15.3 | 0.5 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 71.7 | 2.3 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 31 | 1 | 35% |
| Drug violations | 15.3 | 0.5 | 65% |
| Impaired driving | 129.3 | 4.1 | 71% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.7 | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
About 370 violent incidents a year across the police area of 31,400 residents that includes Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley, 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 580 property crimes and 460 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley places 16th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| 13 | Mitchell Ontario | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| 14 | Wiarton Ontario | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| 15 | Lorraine Quebec | 9,721 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| 16 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley British Columbia | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| 17 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands Ontario | 10,185 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| 18 | Elizabethtown-Kitley Ontario | 9,886 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| 19 | Shawnigan British Columbia | 9,903 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| 20 | Qualicum Beach British Columbia | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 75.8 | 69 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 50.4 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 48.1. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 48.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 50.4 | 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 C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| Courtenay | 32,869 | 131.2 | 129 | D |
| Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley | 7,830 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| Comox | 15,884 | 40.6 | 39.2 | A− |
| Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona | 4,546 | 166.3 | 162.8 | D |
| Cumberland | 4,974 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
Of 3 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley. Comox, 15.6 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 40.6 to 49.5. 2 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- Town and surroundings together. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley
Is Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley safe?
The short answer is an index of 49.5 for Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley (2023–2025), built from 11.9 violent incidents and 18.5 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 8.5, mischief at 6.8 and assault at 5, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley?
Not much: the index went from 50.4 in 2023 to 50 in 2025.
How much of Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 48% of violent crime and 26% of everything else, 34% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley 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).