Photo: Kevstan · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Port Alberni records more crime than 94% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 248.2 and other offences for 182.6, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. On the record of crime the police covering Port Alberni reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes D for safety: #240 of 251 in British Columbia. Year on year, 37.6 violent incidents and 83.5 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Port Alberni
Mischief: high for a town its size
Port Alberni records 35.8 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 ↓
Over the British Columbia norm
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 200.1 in Port Alberni. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Port Alberni stands 39th, the lowest first. 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.
The D for Port Alberni, and how it is built
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: #240 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,507 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 Port Alberni, by type
Against the typical town its size, Port Alberni runs highest on mischief (35.8 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (3.1 per 1,000 against 0.8) and sexual assault (2.4 per 1,000 against 0.8). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 20 | 1 | 64% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 20.3 | 1 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 14 | 0.7 | 64% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 9 | 0.5 | 37% |
| Breaking and entering | 104.3 | 5.3 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 12.3 | 0.6 | 63% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 36.3 | 1.9 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 18.3 | 0.9 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 619.7 | 31.7 | 17% |
| Mischief | 700.3 | 35.8 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 24 | 1.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 604 | 30.9 | 87% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 54.3 | 2.8 | 62% |
| Drug violations | 59.7 | 3.1 | 52% |
| Impaired driving | 102 | 5.2 | 73% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Port Alberni is 39th 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+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Esquimalt British Columbia | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Pitt Meadows British Columbia | 20,892 | 60.8 | 59.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Camrose Alberta | 20,800 | 96.3 | 96.4 | C− |
| 37 | Swift Current Saskatchewan | 18,154 | 108.2 | 100.8 | C− |
| 38 | Summerside Prince Edward Island | 19,006 | 118.7 | 108.2 | C− |
| 39 | Port Alberni British Columbia | 19,671 | 200.1 | 248.2 | D |
| 40 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 211.6 | 177.2 | 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 Port Alberni in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Port Alberni recorded about 730 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.
Add about 1,630 property crimes and 1,370 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
From 2023 to 2025, Port Alberni’s index dropped 6%
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 218.2; the lightest was 2024, at 176.3. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Port Alberni | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 206 | 60 |
| 2024 | 176.3 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 218.2 | 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 Port Alberni, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Port Alberni
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Alberni | 19,671 | 200.1 | 248.2 | D |
| Electoral Area F, Alberni-Clayoquot | 2,141 | 48.6 | 69.1 | B+ |
| Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot | 3,069 | 48.6 | 69.1 | B+ |
| Electoral Area D, Alberni-Clayoquot | 1,875 | 48.6 | 69.1 | B+ |
Port Alberni has the highest index of the places around it. Just 3.4 km away, Electoral Area F, Alberni-Clayoquot comes to 48.6, against 200.1.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- The clearance rate. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- Severity, weighed. 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 Port Alberni
Is Port Alberni safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Port Alberni scores 200.1 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 37.6 violent and 83.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Port Alberni?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 60.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 35.8 and theft under $5,000 at 31.7.
Is crime going up in Port Alberni?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 6%, to 206 from 218.2.
How much of Port Alberni’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 37% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 54% of violent crime and 29% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Port Alberni 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).