Photo: rpaterso · CC BY-SA 2.0Oak Bay sees less crime per resident than 98% of Canadian towns
None of the 5 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Oak Bay’s Safety Grade is A+, on crime the police covering Oak Bay reported from 2023 to 2025: #2 of 251 in British Columbia. What’s more, the yearly rates were 3.8 violent incidents and 18.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Split in two, the index gives 23.4 for violence and 28.3 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56).
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 Oak Bay
Under the British Columbia norm
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Oak Bay, 26.7. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Oak Bay comes 2nd, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Oak Bay’s two halves part ways: 23.4 for violence (typical 89.4) and 28.3 for the rest (typical 56). By type ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Oak Bay records 7.4 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 ↓
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 Oak Bay’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: #2 of 251 in British Columbia and #54 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.
Oak Bay’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Oak Bay runs highest on mischief (7.4 per 1,000 against 3.7). Theft under $5,000 and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 25.3 | 1.4 | 21% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7 | 0.4 | 39% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.3 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 116 | 6.2 | 6% |
| Mischief | 138.3 | 7.4 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 12.3 | 0.7 | 76% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.3 | 0.4 | 23% |
| Drug violations | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Impaired driving | 10 | 0.5 | 93% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Oak Bay is 2nd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| 3 | Petawawa Ontario | 19,606 | 29.3 | 42.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Deux-Montagnes Quebec | 18,516 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| 5 | Port Hope Ontario | 18,446 | 31.2 | 36.4 | A |
| 6 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Esquimalt British Columbia | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Lake Country British Columbia | 17,637 | 67.1 | 59.9 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Sooke British Columbia | 17,248 | 81.4 | 79.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | 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 Oak Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Oak Bay, down 16% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 30.8, and 2024 the lightest at 23.4. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Oak Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 25.9 | 60 |
| 2024 | 23.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 30.8 | 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 Oak Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Oak Bay’s police: about 71 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.
Property crime adds about 350 a year and other violations 69 (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 Oak Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| Victoria | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | — | — | — |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
The places around Oak Bay all score higher on the index.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Oak Bay
Is Oak Bay safe?
Police-reported crime in Oak Bay scores 26.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 3.8 violent incidents and 18.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Oak Bay?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 7.4, theft under $5,000 at 6.2 and fraud at 2.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Oak Bay?
The reverse: 30.8 in 2023 came down to 25.9 by 2025, 16% lower.
How much of Oak Bay’s crime do police solve?
About 22% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 40% of violent and 16% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Oak Bay alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).