Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Fort St. John than in 94% of Canadian towns
Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Fort St. John’s Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Fort St. John reported from 2023 to 2025: #240 of 251 in British Columbia. Split in two, the index gives 214.9 for violence and 196.6 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56). Annual rates stand at 35.6 violent incidents and 72.8 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 30.5 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.
What stands out about safety in Fort St. John
Mischief: high for a town its size
Fort St. John records 24.3 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 ↓
Heavier than British Columbia’s middle
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Fort St. John, 200.6. Towns its size ↓
Less severe than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Fort St. John moved from 248.5 to 182.6, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Fort St. John comes 39th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity 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 D for Fort St. John, 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: #240 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,507 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.
Which crimes make up Fort St. John’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Fort St. John runs highest on mischief (24.3 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (4.1 per 1,000 against 0.8) and break and enter (6.9 per 1,000 against 2.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 23 | 1 | 48% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 11.3 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Robbery | 21 | 0.9 | 63% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 10.7 | 0.5 | 35% |
| Breaking and entering | 163 | 6.9 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 35.3 | 1.5 | 41% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 129.3 | 5.5 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 48.7 | 2.1 | 8% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 574 | 24.2 | 21% |
| Mischief | 575 | 24.3 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 29.7 | 1.3 | 61% |
| Administration of justice violations | 266.7 | 11.3 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 44.3 | 1.9 | 49% |
| Drug violations | 98 | 4.1 | 53% |
| Impaired driving | 207.3 | 8.8 | 64% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Year by year in Fort St. John: down 27%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (248.5); 2024 was the lightest, at 170.6. 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 | Fort St. John | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 182.6 | 60 |
| 2024 | 170.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 248.5 | 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 Fort St. John, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Fort St. John comes 39th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| 2 | Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver British Columbia | 22,031 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Colwood British Columbia | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 32 | White Rock British Columbia | 25,057 | 82.6 | 87.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Owen Sound Ontario | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| 37 | Riverview New Brunswick | 22,614 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 38 | Cranbrook British Columbia | 22,703 | 149.5 | 147.3 | D |
| 39 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | D |
| 40 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 304.6 | 362 | 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 Fort St. John in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Fort St. John recorded about 840 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.
Property crime adds about 1,720 a year and other violations 950 (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 Fort St. John
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. John | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | D |
| Electoral Area C, Peace River | 6,344 | 81.8 | 82.5 | C |
| Taylor | 1,415 | 81.8 | 82.5 | C |
Fort St. John has the highest index of the places around it. Just 4.4 km away, Electoral Area C, Peace River comes to 81.8, against 200.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- What 100 means. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
Questions about safety in Fort St. John
Is Fort St. John safe?
Its police recorded 35.6 violent incidents and 72.8 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Fort St. John a Crime Severity Index of 200.6. Set that beside 66, the median for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Fort St. John?
Most often it is mischief: 24.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 24.2 and other Criminal Code offences at 23.7.
Is crime going up in Fort St. John?
Down 27%: 248.5 in 2023, 182.6 in 2025.
How much of Fort St. John’s crime do police solve?
31%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 46% and non-violent crime at 24%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Fort St. John 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).