Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Courtenay runs higher than in 88% of Canadian towns
Graded on crime the police covering Courtenay reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety: #220 of 251 in British Columbia. What’s more, for every 1,000 residents, 25.3 violent incidents and 65.8 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.0 and 30.5. Violence accounts for an index of 129 and other offences for 133.2, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. Each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records 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 Courtenay
Mischief: high for a town its size
Courtenay records 30.5 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 ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Courtenay is 39th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Courtenay scores 131.2. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Courtenay’s index splits into violent crime, 129 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 133.2 against 56. 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 Courtenay’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: #220 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,309 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 Courtenay, by type
Against the typical town its size, Courtenay runs highest on mischief (30.5 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (3.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and theft under $5,000 (23.4 per 1,000 against 11.8). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 17.3 | 0.5 | 21% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16.7 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 16.7 | 0.5 | 62% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 8.7 | 0.3 | 46% |
| Breaking and entering | 95.7 | 3 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 22.7 | 0.7 | 25% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 33.7 | 1.1 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 18 | 0.6 | 18% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 750.7 | 23.4 | 30% |
| Mischief | 977 | 30.5 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 28.3 | 0.9 | 66% |
| Administration of justice violations | 412 | 12.8 | 82% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 74.7 | 2.3 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 105.3 | 3.3 | 56% |
| Impaired driving | 139.3 | 4.4 | 71% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.3 | 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.
By its index, Courtenay stands 39th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Port Moody British Columbia | 38,285 | 43.5 | 43.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | North Cowichan British Columbia | 34,525 | 99 | 124 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Dieppe New Brunswick | 35,986 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 37 | Parkland County Alberta | 34,286 | 121 | 115 | D |
| 38 | Langley British Columbia | 35,444 | 127.5 | 145 | D |
| 39 | Courtenay British Columbia | 32,869 | 131.2 | 129 | D |
| 40 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | 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 Courtenay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
From 2023 to 2025, Courtenay’s index dropped 12%
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 137.4, and 2025 the lightest at 121.2. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Courtenay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 121.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 135.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 137.4 | 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 Courtenay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 810 violent incidents a year on Courtenay’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 2,110 property crimes, plus 1,530 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 Courtenay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courtenay | 32,869 | 131.2 | 129 | D |
| Comox | 15,884 | 40.6 | 39.2 | A− |
| Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley | 7,830 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| Cumberland | 4,974 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Comox Valley | 8,415 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
Courtenay has the highest index of the places around it. Just 4.4 km away, Comox comes to 40.6, against 131.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Courtenay
Is Courtenay safe?
Courtenay scores 131.2 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66; per 1,000 residents a year that is 25.3 violent incidents and 65.8 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Courtenay?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (38.4 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 30.5, and theft under $5,000, at 23.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Courtenay?
It went down 12% between 2023 and 2025, from 137.4 to 121.2.
How much of Courtenay’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 45% of violent crime and 27% of everything else, 32% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Courtenay and nowhere else.
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).