Photo: Doug Wortley · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Parksville runs higher than in 81% of Canadian towns
It grades C− for safety on crime the police covering Parksville reported from 2023 to 2025: #204 of 251 in British Columbia. Its violent half comes to 88.3 and its non-violent half to 116, where the norm is 89.4 and 56. All 5 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Police cleared 20% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian 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.
What stands out about safety in Parksville
Mischief: high for a town its size
Parksville records 21 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 ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Parksville’s index splits into violent crime, 88.3 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 116 against 56. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Parksville is 34th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than British Columbia’s middle
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Parksville scores 107.4. 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.
Parksville: C− for safety, and why
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: #204 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,996 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.
What police record in Parksville, by type
Against the typical town its size, Parksville runs highest on mischief (21 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and break and enter (3.2 per 1,000 against 2.2). Sexual assault and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.7 | 0.6 | 23% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 47.3 | 3.2 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 0.6 | 24% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 25.7 | 1.7 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5 | 0.3 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 226 | 15.1 | 17% |
| Mischief | 313.7 | 21 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 8.7 | 0.6 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 40.3 | 2.7 | 61% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14 | 0.9 | 41% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 1.3 | 35% |
| Impaired driving | 71.7 | 4.8 | 53% |
| 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.
By its index, Parksville stands 34th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorchester Ontario | 15,475 | 28.2 | 19.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Comox British Columbia | 15,884 | 40.6 | 39.2 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Whistler British Columbia | 15,090 | 83.8 | 82.3 | C |
| 32 | Grand Falls-Windsor Newfoundland and Labrador | 14,510 | 92.1 | 84.1 | C |
| 33 | Truro Nova Scotia | 14,652 | 95 | 104.2 | C− |
| 34 | Parksville British Columbia | 15,371 | 107.4 | 88.3 | C− |
| 35 | Pembroke Ontario | 15,479 | 112.1 | 153.4 | C− |
| 36 | Powell River British Columbia | 14,947 | 113.5 | 99.4 | C− |
| 37 | La Crète Alberta | 14,488 | 113.5 | 218.8 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | North Battleford Saskatchewan | 14,882 | 528.4 | 591.9 | 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 Parksville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
From 2023 to 2025, Parksville’s index dropped 15%
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 120.8 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 98.7. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Parksville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 102.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 98.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 120.8 | 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 Parksville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 250 violent incidents a year on Parksville’s police records (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 740 a year and other violations 420 (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 Parksville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parksville | 15,371 | 107.4 | 88.3 | C− |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo | 8,412 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Qualicum Beach | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| Electoral Area F, Nanaimo | 8,810 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Fairwinds | 7,125 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Lantzville | 4,276 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Parksville. Electoral Area G, Nanaimo, 3.5 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 44.5 to 107.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. 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.
Questions about safety in Parksville
Is Parksville safe?
The short answer is an index of 107.4 for Parksville (2023–2025), built from 16.6 violent incidents and 49.4 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the typical index is 66.
What is the most common crime in Parksville?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 21 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (21) and theft under $5,000 (15.1).
Is crime going up in Parksville?
No: the index fell 15%, from 120.8 in 2023 to 102.8 in 2025.
How much of Parksville’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 35% of violent crime and 16% of everything else, 20% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Parksville 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).