For recorded crime, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo sits in the middle of Canadian towns
By 2025 the index had dropped to 55.6, down from 63.6 in 2023. Per 1,000 residents a year, 13.0 violent incidents and 23.0 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Overall, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo grades B− for safety (#54 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 58.4 and 59.6.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Nanaimo detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Below British Columbia’s typical town
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo scores 58.9. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo records 8.1 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 ↓
A low clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 21% for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo (32% violent, 16% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo is 19th 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.
What’s behind Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 14 km away.
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo runs highest on mischief (8.1 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 30.3 | 1.8 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 16.7 | 1 | 32% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 23.7 | 1.4 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11 | 0.7 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 96.7 | 5.8 | 7% |
| Mischief | 135.3 | 8.1 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 5 | 0.3 | 66% |
| Administration of justice violations | 30 | 1.8 | 63% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 16.7 | 1 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 7 | 0.4 | 29% |
| Impaired driving | 44.7 | 2.7 | 61% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (63.6); the low point came in 2025, at 55.6. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 57.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 63.6 | 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 Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Electoral Area B, Nanaimo stands 19th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Electoral Area D, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 4,829 | 45 | 53.2 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Electoral Area H, Nanaimo British Columbia | 4,815 | 48.6 | 69.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Saint-Jacques Quebec | 4,830 | 54 | 93.4 | B |
| 17 | Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu Quebec | 4,598 | 55 | 88.5 | B |
| 18 | Berthierville Quebec | 4,591 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| 19 | Electoral Area B, Nanaimo British Columbia | 4,702 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| 20 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 63.5 | 42.7 | B− |
| 21 | Caraquet New Brunswick | 4,572 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
| 22 | Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George British Columbia | 4,802 | 67.3 | 98.3 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 4,540 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Central Okanagan British Columbia | 4,784 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | 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 Electoral Area B, Nanaimo in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Electoral Area B, Nanaimo, 16,900 residents: around 220 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.
Add about 380 property crimes and 210 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 Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | 4,702 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 7,825 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Nanaimo | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley | 2,761 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo | 3,733 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Electoral Area B, Nanaimo. A neighbour policed by the same service carries the same figure, so it isn’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 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.
Questions about safety in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo
Is Electoral Area B, Nanaimo safe?
The short answer is an index of 58.9 for Electoral Area B, Nanaimo (2023–2025), built from 13 violent incidents and 23 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 8.2, mischief at 8.1 and theft under $5,000 at 5.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Electoral Area B, Nanaimo?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 12%, to 55.6 from 63.6.
How much of Electoral Area B, Nanaimo’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 21% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 32% of violent and 16% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Electoral Area B, Nanaimo 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).