Photo: Gerry Thomasen from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0Nanaimo has more crime per resident than 86% of Canadian towns
Annual rates stand at 23.0 violent incidents and 55.8 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. What’s more, all 5 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. On crime the police covering Nanaimo reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #214 of 251 in British Columbia. Its violent half comes to 127.7 and its non-violent half to 120.2, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2.
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 Nanaimo
Mischief: high for a town its size
Nanaimo records 22 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Nanaimo is 33rd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Nanaimo scores 121.6. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
Nanaimo’s index went from 136.1 in 2023 to 113.6 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Nanaimo’s D
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: #214 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,281 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Nanaimo’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Nanaimo runs highest on mischief (22 per 1,000 against 3.8), drug offences (3.3 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (10 per 1,000 against 4.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 53.3 | 0.5 | 22% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 37.3 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 10.3 | 0.09 | 61% |
| Robbery | 61.7 | 0.6 | 38% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 6.7 | 0.06 | 60% |
| Other violent violations | 26.7 | 0.2 | 34% |
| Breaking and entering | 401 | 3.6 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 138.7 | 1.3 | 22% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 237.7 | 2.2 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 74 | 0.7 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 2,137.7 | 19.4 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,427.3 | 22 | 30% |
| Weapons violations | 179 | 1.6 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 559 | 5.1 | 70% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 179 | 1.6 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 360 | 3.3 | 66% |
| Impaired driving | 334.7 | 3 | 58% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.02 | — |
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 50,000 people or more.
In Nanaimo, down 17% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 136.1; the lightest was 2025, at 113.6. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Nanaimo | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 113.6 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 115.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 136.1 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Nanaimo, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Nanaimo stands 33rd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Sault Ste. Marie Ontario | 81,182 | 109.6 | 137 | C− |
| 31 | Moncton New Brunswick | 102,378 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 32 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 113.6 | 209.7 | C− |
| 33 | Nanaimo British Columbia | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| 34 | Fort McMurray Alberta | 81,611 | 124.5 | 117.5 | D |
| 35 | Red Deer Alberta | 115,409 | 126.8 | 134.3 | D |
| 36 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 128.5 | 142 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Nanaimo in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Nanaimo’s police: about 2,540 violent incidents a year over 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 6,160 property crimes and 3,790 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 Nanaimo
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanaimo | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo | 3,733 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Lantzville | 4,276 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 7,825 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo | 4,702 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| Fairwinds | 7,125 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Nanaimo. Closest is Electoral Area C, Nanaimo, 3.4 km away, at 58.9 to 121.6 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
Questions about safety in Nanaimo
Is Nanaimo safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Nanaimo scores 121.6 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 23 violent and 55.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Nanaimo?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 26.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (22) and theft under $5,000 (19.4).
Is crime going up in Nanaimo?
It went down 17% between 2023 and 2025, from 136.1 to 113.6.
How much of Nanaimo’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 26% of crime (33% of violent crime, 24% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Nanaimo 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).