Photo: The original uploader was IDuke at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 2.5Esquimalt sees less crime per resident than 81% of Canadian towns
Recorded violent incidents ran at 12.5 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 18.1, against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. By contrast, from 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Esquimalt reported put it at A− for safety: #20 of 251 in British Columbia. Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 65.7 and 34.2. Police clear 27% of crime, weighted by seriousness; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
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 Esquimalt
Under the British Columbia norm
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Esquimalt scores 43. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Esquimalt is 13th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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 A− for Esquimalt, 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: #20 of 251 in British Columbia and #349 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.
Esquimalt’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Esquimalt runs highest on mischief (5 per 1,000 against 3.7). 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 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7.3 | 0.4 | 23% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5 | 0.3 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 32 | 1.7 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12 | 0.6 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 122.7 | 6.4 | 6% |
| Mischief | 95.7 | 5 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.3 | 51% |
| Administration of justice violations | 31.7 | 1.6 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 12.7 | 0.7 | 47% |
| Drug violations | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Impaired driving | 11.7 | 0.6 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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.
Police in Esquimalt recorded about 240 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.
And about 350 property crimes, plus 100 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
By its index, Esquimalt stands 13th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Kemptville Ontario | 19,733 | 37.9 | 52.9 | A |
| 11 | Sainte-Sophie Quebec | 19,467 | 38 | 60.1 | A |
| 12 | Saint-Colomban Quebec | 19,080 | 38 | 60.1 | A |
| 13 | Esquimalt British Columbia | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| 14 | Bracebridge Ontario | 18,676 | 46.7 | 69.2 | A− |
| 15 | Mitchell Manitoba | 19,950 | 48.1 | 54.1 | B+ |
| 16 | Rivière-du-Loup Quebec | 20,650 | 48.3 | 72.4 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Pitt Meadows British Columbia | 20,892 | 60.8 | 59.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Salmon Arm British Columbia | 20,891 | 92.4 | 66.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Port Alberni British Columbia | 19,671 | 200.1 | 248.2 | 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 Esquimalt in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Esquimalt’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 45, with 2025 the lightest at 41. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 69.5 (2023), then 60 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Esquimalt | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41 | 60 |
| 2024 | 45 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 42.9 | 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 Esquimalt, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Esquimalt
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | — | — | — |
| Victoria | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
Nearby, 2 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Esquimalt. Just 5.5 km away, Saanich comes to 40.5, against 43.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. 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 Esquimalt
Is Esquimalt safe?
Esquimalt measures 43 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 12.5 violent incidents and 18.1 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Esquimalt?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (6.4 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 5.8, and mischief, at 5, follow.
Is crime going up in Esquimalt?
Hardly at all, from 42.9 in 2023 to 41 in 2025.
How much of Esquimalt’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 27% of crime (38% of violent crime, 19% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Esquimalt’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).