Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY-SA 2.5Recorded crime per resident is lower in Qualicum Beach than in 67% of Canadian towns
Each of the 4 towns on its borders with figures records more crime per resident. On top of that, the Safety Grade comes out at B+, drawn from crime the police covering Qualicum Beach reported through 2023 to 2025: #40 of 251 in British Columbia. Per 1,000 residents a year, 6.8 violent incidents and 18.4 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Split in two, the index gives 32.6 for violence and 59.4 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8).
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 Qualicum Beach
Non-violent crime leads the index
Qualicum Beach scores 32.6 for violence and 59.4 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
Police clear less here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 14% for Qualicum Beach (37% violent, 10% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Lower than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Qualicum Beach scores 51.5. Towns its size ↓
Easing since 2023
Qualicum Beach’s index went from 61.6 in 2023 to 49.4 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. 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’s behind Qualicum Beach’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: #40 of 251 in British Columbia and #547 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Qualicum Beach, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Qualicum Beach runs highest on mischief (6.4 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 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 | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 13 | 1.4 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.7 | 0.6 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 53 | 5.5 | 16% |
| Mischief | 61.3 | 6.4 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 8.7 | 0.9 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 5 | 0.5 | 26% |
| Impaired driving | 20.3 | 2.1 | 43% |
| 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 to 10,000 people.
Year by year in Qualicum Beach: down 20%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (61.6); the low point came in 2024, at 43.3. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Qualicum Beach | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 43.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 61.6 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Qualicum Beach, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Qualicum Beach’s police: about 65 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 180 property crimes and 95 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Qualicum Beach is 21st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley British Columbia | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| 19 | Elizabethtown-Kitley Ontario | 9,886 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| 20 | Shawnigan British Columbia | 9,903 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| 21 | Qualicum Beach British Columbia | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| 22 | Coaldale Alberta | 9,644 | 57.1 | 45.1 | B |
| 23 | Three Rivers Prince Edward Island | 9,322 | 61.6 | 82.1 | B− |
| 24 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 66.6 | 81.7 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 75.8 | 69 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Kitimat British Columbia | 10,019 | 100.8 | 107.1 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Qualicum Beach in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Qualicum Beach
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualicum Beach | 9,640 | 51.5 | 32.6 | B+ |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo | 8,412 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Electoral Area F, Nanaimo | 8,810 | 44.5 | 43.2 | A− |
| Parksville | 15,371 | 107.4 | 88.3 | C− |
| Electoral Area H, Nanaimo | 4,815 | 48.6 | 69.1 | B+ |
3 of the 4 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Qualicum Beach. Closest is Electoral Area G, Nanaimo, 5.2 km away, at 44.5 to 51.5 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 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.
Questions about safety in Qualicum Beach
Is Qualicum Beach safe?
Police-reported crime in Qualicum Beach scores 51.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 6.8 violent incidents and 18.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Qualicum Beach?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 6.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (6.4) and theft under $5,000 (5.5).
Is crime going up in Qualicum Beach?
The reverse: 61.6 in 2023 came down to 49.4 by 2025, 20% lower.
How much of Qualicum Beach’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 14%: 37% for violent crime and 10% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Qualicum Beach’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).