Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainRecorded crime per resident is higher in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen than in 85% of Canadian towns
A Crime Severity Index of 118.4, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 67.2 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Police counts work out at 13.8 violent incidents and 38.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ they are 12.0 and 31.2. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen reported put it at C− for safety.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the South Okanagan/Osoyoos detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen records 13.1 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s two halves part ways: 60.9 for violence (typical 86.4) and 142.3 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Below-typical clearance
Police cleared 15% of Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s crime, weighted by seriousness (50% of violent crime, 9% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen scores 118.4. 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 A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 1 km from Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, since none reports under the town’s name.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (11.7 per 1,000 against 0.05), drug offences (13.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and motor vehicle theft (6.1 per 1,000 against 2.4). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 14 | 4.3 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3 | 0.9 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 20 | 6.1 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6 | 1.8 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 35 | 10.5 | 5% |
| Mischief | 26 | 8.1 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 2.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 6 | 1.8 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.3 | 2 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 46.3 | 13.1 | 4% |
| Impaired driving | 7.7 | 2.3 | 61% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment nearest Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, 3,590 residents: around 45 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.
And about 130 property crimes, plus 130 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 142.4; 2025 was the lightest, at 104.8. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 104.8 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 142.4 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 107.9 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen | 2,429 | 118.4 | 60.9 | C− |
| Osoyoos (2 km) | 5,724 | 97.9 | 68.6 | C− |
| Oliver (21 km) | 5,262 | 132.5 | 95.2 | D |
| Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen (24 km) | 4,103 | 113.4 | 144 | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen (26 km) | 1,190 | 113.4 | 144 | C− |
Nearby, 3 of 4 places with their own figures have a lower index than Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen. Just 1.7 km away, Osoyoos comes to 97.9, against 118.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen with figures are 2–26 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Small numbers. The police behind these figures serve about 3,586 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. 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 Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen
Is Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen scores 118.4 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 13.8 violent and 38.6 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 67.2, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What is the most common crime in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen?
Drug offences is the most common, at 13.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then Cannabis Act offences (11.7) and other Criminal Code offences (10.7).
Is crime going up in Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen?
Barely: 107.9 in 2023, 104.8 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen’s crime do police solve?
About 15% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 50% of violent and 9% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Electoral Area A, Okanagan-Similkameen 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).