Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area I, Cowichan Valley has more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
Across British Columbia’s towns, the middle index is 83.2. Counting crime the police covering Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 94.9 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 67.2 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Recorded violent incidents ran at 19.6 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 28.2, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Lake Cowichan detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
Visitors count, residents divide
With 40% of its homes not lived in all year, Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley counts its crime against a smaller year-round population than the one that is there in season. How to read it ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley records 13.3 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 ↓
Down since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley moved from 120 to 54.2, while the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Heavier on violence
Violent crime scores 158.7 on Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s index against 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+; non-violent crime, 70.2 against 62.8. 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 sits behind Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s C−
How sure: Not as firm as most grades. Its figures come from the nearest detachment, 9 km off, which covers its own area rather than Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley.
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.
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s index fell 55% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 120, against a low of 54.2 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 54.2 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 110.7 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 120 | 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 I, Cowichan Valley, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Which crimes make up Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley runs highest on mischief (13.3 per 1,000 against 4.2) and assault (10 per 1,000 against 6.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 16.7 | 2.3 | 30% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9 | 1.2 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 51.3 | 7.1 | 16% |
| Mischief | 96.3 | 13.3 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 28 | 3.8 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.5 | 63% |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 1.3 | 40% |
| Impaired driving | 19.7 | 2.7 | 75% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
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.
Around 140 violent incidents a year at the detachment nearest Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley (7,330 residents), 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 200 a year and other violations 320 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley | 1,521 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| Lake Cowichan | 3,757 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| Electoral Area F, Cowichan Valley | 1,837 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
2 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. 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.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
Is Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley safe?
Police-reported crime in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley scores 94.9 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 19.6 violent incidents and 28.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 14 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (13.3) and assault (10).
Is crime going up in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley?
It went down 55% between 2023 and 2025, from 120 to 54.2.
How much of Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 36% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+); split up, that is 44% of violent and 27% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Electoral Area I, Cowichan 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).