Photo: Gerry Thomasen from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0Per resident, Electoral Area C, Nanaimo records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
In 2023 the index stood at 63.6; it fell to 55.6 in 2025. Its letter overall is B− (#54 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, from crime its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Violence accounts for an index of 58.4 and other offences for 59.6, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Behind the grade sit 13.0 violent incidents and 23.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Nanaimo detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
Below British Columbia’s typical town
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 58.9 in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Electoral Area C, Nanaimo stands 13th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Electoral Area C, 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 ↓
Less crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 21% of crime in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 32% of violent crime and 16% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Electoral Area C, Nanaimo: B− for safety, and why
How sure: Less sure, as Electoral Area C, Nanaimo has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 6 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.
Which crimes make up Electoral Area C, Nanaimo’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area C, 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 C, Nanaimo, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (63.6); 2025 was the lightest, at 55.6. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area C, 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 C, Nanaimo, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Electoral Area C, Nanaimo stands 13th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 53 | 61.7 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Piedmont Quebec | 3,667 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| 11 | Saint-Tite Quebec | 3,759 | 56.3 | 77.5 | B |
| 12 | Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez Quebec | 3,639 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 13 | Electoral Area C, Nanaimo British Columbia | 3,733 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| 14 | Saint-André-Avellin Quebec | 3,862 | 61.7 | 107.3 | B− |
| 15 | Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 3,672 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| 16 | Cartier Manitoba | 3,739 | 67 | 72.1 | B− |
| 17 | Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George British Columbia | 3,811 | 67.3 | 98.3 | B− |
| 18 | Electoral Area A, Fraser-Fort George British Columbia | 3,764 | 67.3 | 98.3 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Roberts Creek British Columbia | 3,779 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cowichan Bay British Columbia | 3,713 | 131.7 | 149.7 | 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 C, Nanaimo in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Electoral Area C, 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.
Property crime adds about 380 a year and other violations 210 (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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo | 3,733 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Nanaimo | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| Lantzville | 4,276 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Fairwinds | 7,125 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 7,825 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | 4,702 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
Electoral Area C, Nanaimo sits above 1 of the 3 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 15.2 km away, Fairwinds comes to 44.5, against 58.9. Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 2 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- 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.”
- 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 Electoral Area C, Nanaimo
Is Electoral Area C, Nanaimo safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Electoral Area C, Nanaimo’s Crime Severity Index stands at 58.9 for 2023–2025. Its police record 13 violent incidents and 23 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (8.2 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 8.1, and theft under $5,000, at 5.8, follow.
Is crime going up in Electoral Area C, Nanaimo?
It went down 12% between 2023 and 2025, from 63.6 to 55.6.
How much of Electoral Area C, Nanaimo’s crime do police solve?
21%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 32% and non-violent crime at 16%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Electoral Area C, 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).