Photo: UBC Micrometeorology · CC BY 2.0Crime in Delta sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 64.4 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025. Of the two halves, violence comes to 69.8 and other offences to 56.2, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2. The overall Safety Grade is B− (#54 of 251 in British Columbia), which means close to the middle of Canadian towns, judged on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records more 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 Delta
Less crime solved
Police cleared 17% of Delta’s crime, weighted by seriousness (31% of violent crime, 10% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
Lighter than British Columbia’s middle
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 59.7 in Delta. Towns its size ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Delta stands 21st, the lowest first. 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 Delta’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: #54 of 251 in British Columbia and #902 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Delta’s crime by kind
Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 30.7 | 0.2 | 24% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 14.3 | 0.1 | 91% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6.7 | 0.05 | 19% |
| Robbery | 43 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5.3 | 0.04 | 75% |
| Other violent violations | 26 | 0.2 | 22% |
| Breaking and entering | 210.7 | 1.7 | 8% |
| Possession of stolen property | 12 | 0.10 | 50% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 122.3 | 1 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 153.7 | 1.2 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,323.7 | 10.6 | 7% |
| Mischief | 484.3 | 3.9 | 3% |
| Weapons violations | 32.7 | 0.3 | 76% |
| Administration of justice violations | 197 | 1.6 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 70.3 | 0.6 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 57.7 | 0.5 | 36% |
| Impaired driving | 579.7 | 4.6 | 55% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 140.3 | 1.1 | 15% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Delta, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 64.4; the lightest was 2024, at 55.5. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Delta | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 55.5 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 64.4 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Delta, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Delta stands 21st of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | St. Catharines Ontario | 153,865 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 19 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 20 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 56.8 | 73.1 | B |
| 21 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| 22 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 61.5 | 93.7 | B− |
| 23 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 68.4 | 61.3 | B− |
| 24 | Peterborough Ontario | 97,834 | 71.7 | 89.4 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| 31 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Delta in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Delta’s police: about 1,150 violent incidents a year over 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 2,960 property crimes and 1,410 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Delta
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| Colebrook | 3,617 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Strawberry Hill | 37,037 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Tsawwassen | 2,629 | — | — | — |
| Panorama Ridge | 36,473 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Brownsville | 23,515 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| South Slope | 8,989 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Delta.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Delta
Is Delta safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Delta comes to 59.7. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 9.2 violent incidents and 23.6 property crimes. For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the typical index is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Delta?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (10.6 per 1,000 residents a year); Criminal Code traffic offences, at 6.3, and fraud, at 5, follow.
Is crime going up in Delta?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 8%, to 59.2 from 64.4.
How much of Delta’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 31% of violent crime and 10% of everything else, 17% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Delta’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).