Photo: A.Davey · CC BY 2.0Ladysmith records more crime per resident than two in three Canadian towns
Measured on crime the police covering Ladysmith reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C+: #113 of 251 in British Columbia. About 24% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size. Its 3 neighbours with figures all record more crime per resident. The yearly rates were 14.8 violent incidents and 28.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.9 and 31.2 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 Ladysmith
Mischief: high for a town its size
Ladysmith records 11.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Lighter than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Ladysmith stood at 91.4, by 2025 at 68. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Ladysmith stands 28th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Ladysmith’s two halves part ways: 70.2 for violence (typical 85.7) and 80.7 for the rest (typical 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’s behind Ladysmith’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: #113 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,604 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
From 2023 to 2025, Ladysmith’s index dropped 26%
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 91.4 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 68. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ladysmith | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 68 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 72.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 91.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Ladysmith, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Ladysmith’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Ladysmith runs highest on mischief (11.2 per 1,000 against 4.9) and drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.7). 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 | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.3 | 0.5 | 25% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 24 | 2.5 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.5 | 46% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9.3 | 1 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.5 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 86 | 8.8 | 12% |
| Mischief | 109.3 | 11.2 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 17.7 | 1.8 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 16 | 1.6 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 12.3 | 1.3 | 51% |
| Impaired driving | 26.7 | 2.7 | 82% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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 to 10,000 people.
Ladysmith comes 28th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley British Columbia | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Shawnigan British Columbia | 9,903 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| 18 | Qualicum Beach British Columbia | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Roberval Quebec | 9,828 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| 26 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 75.8 | 69 | C+ |
| 27 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| 29 | Temiskaming Shores Ontario | 10,144 | 78.8 | 97.1 | C |
| 30 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 84.8 | 74.7 | C |
| 31 | Olds Alberta | 9,653 | 85.6 | 86.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Ladysmith in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 150 violent incidents a year on Ladysmith’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.
Add about 280 property crimes and 200 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 Ladysmith
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladysmith | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley | 2,761 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley | 2,597 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 7,825 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Ladysmith.
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. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Ladysmith
Is Ladysmith safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Ladysmith comes to 77.3. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 14.8 violent incidents and 28.8 property crimes. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Ladysmith?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 14.7 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (11.2) and theft under $5,000 (8.8).
Is crime going up in Ladysmith?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 26%, to 68 from 91.4.
How much of Ladysmith’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 45% of violent crime and 17% of everything else, 24% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Ladysmith 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).