Oak Bay · rpaterso · CC BY-SA 2.0British Columbia, subject by subject
British Columbia sits in the lower half of the provinces and territories, 10th of 13, with getting about its strongest subject and cost of living its weakest.
Each subject puts a figure for the whole province, averaged over all its residents, beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
6th of 13B58/100 Near the middle for safety. The province’s own figure and its towns both sit on the weaker side.
Violent crime’s part of the index: 94.1 (Canada 95.5), 4th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, 2023 to 2025, each place given the index of the force or detachment that serves it and averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Safety grade: the Crime Severity Index of each place’s police. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,594 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 252 towns in British Columbia.
Crime gathers in the bigger places
At the quiet end sit Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, Bowen Island and Oak Bay, of 2,594 graded Canadian towns. The busiest quarter for recorded crime takes in Duncan, Fort Nelson and Port Hardy.
| Province | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 45% | 9% | |
| Prince Edward Island | 34% | 58% | |
| Quebec | 28% | 2% | |
| Nova Scotia | 13% | 14% | |
| British Columbia | 12% | 62% | |
| New Brunswick | 10% | 55% |
Station areas and the people in them
Police record crimes where they happen, and each force’s index covers everyone it serves, so a regional detachment’s figure is shared by every town it polices, and a city centre that draws visitors records crimes against them too. The province figure averages every resident’s index; the town grades rank the places one by one.
Schools
3rd of 3D−0/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on schools. The province’s own figure and its towns both sit on the weaker side.
Source: No province figure: each province sets its own tests, and only Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta publish them school by school.
Measure: our Schools grade: provincial test results, graded within each province. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 1,596 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 254 towns in British Columbia.
Cost of living
13th of 13D−0/100 Near the foot of Canada’s provinces and territories on cost of living. The province’s own figure and its towns both sit on the weaker side.
A year’s rent against household income: 28% (Canada 23%), 13th of 13.
Owners’ median home value, 2021: $922,000 (Canada $585,000), 13th of 13.
Monthly rent: $2,026 (Canada $1,599), 13th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (owners’ home values, household income); CMHC rents, or the census rent scaled to them; each place’s ratio averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: home values and rents against household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,602 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 254 towns in British Columbia.
Health
4th of 13A−75/100 Better than most provinces and territories for health. The province’s own figure and its towns tell the same story.
Life expectancy at birth: 82.3 years (Canada 82.2), 3rd of 13.
Smoke, daily or occasionally (age-standardized): 9% (Canada 11%), 1st of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey and life tables by health region, averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Health grade: self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking, life expectancy and distance to a hospital. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,605 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 255 towns in British Columbia.
Jobs & income
5th of 13B+67/100 Better than most provinces and territories for jobs and income. Both measures agree: the whole province and its towns do well here.
In work, aged 15 to 64: 75% (Canada 72%), 5th of 13.
Unemployment, 2021 census: 8.4% (Canada 10.4%), 5th of 13.
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (household income, employment, unemployment), averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: the share in work, household income and the time to work. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,611 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 255 towns in British Columbia.
Getting about
3rd of 13A−83/100 Ahead of most provinces and territories on getting about. Both measures agree: the whole province and its towns do well here.
Drive or are driven to work: 79% (Canada 83%).
Source: Statistics Canada, Census 2021, main mode of commuting, averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Walkability grade: everyday places within reach, and walking, cycling and transit to work. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,611 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 255 towns in British Columbia.
Hazards
7th of 13B−50/100 Mid-table on hazards. The province as a whole does better than its towns: villages and countryside lift the figure.
Building value lost to earthquakes in a typical year, per $1,000: 0.4 (Canada 0.1), 13th of 13.
Source: Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes; Natural Resources Canada, Probabilistic Seismic Risk Model; averaged over the province’s residents.
Measure: our Hazards grade: earthquake loss and radon, with high wildfire as a ceiling. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 2,611 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 255 towns in British Columbia.
Growth
3rd of 13A−83/100 Better than most provinces and territories for growth. Both measures agree: the whole province and its towns do well here.
Source: Statistics Canada, population estimates (July 1) against the 2021 census, summed over the province’s places.
Measure: population change from 2016 to 2021 (census). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Canada’s 1,205 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 177 towns in British Columbia. Covers 71% of the residents of its graded towns.
British Columbia beside its neighbours
| British Columbia | Alberta | Yukon | Northwest Territories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 2510th of 13 | A 922nd of 13 | A− 754th of 13 | B 586th of 13 |
| Safety | B 588th official · 12% in top towns | B− 507th official · 8% in top towns | C− 1711th official | D 812th official |
| Schools | D− 0 · 16% in top towns | A+ 100 · 34% in top towns | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | D− 013th official · 3% in top towns | C 259th official · 43% in top towns | C+ 4210th official | A 923rd official |
| Health | A− 758th official · 33% in top towns | A 923rd official · 37% in top towns | B+ 672nd official | D 812th official |
| Jobs & income | B+ 676th official · 34% in top towns | B 584th official · 32% in top towns | A+ 1003rd official | A 921st official |
| Getting about | A− 833rd official · 36% in top towns | C 338th official · 13% in top towns | B− 546th official | A 922nd official |
| Hazards | B− 503rd official · 3% in top towns | B 637th official · 44% in top towns | D 812th official | B 636th official |
| Growth | A− 835th official · 38% in top towns | B+ 673rd official · 20% in top towns | A+ 1001st official | D 1311th official |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the province’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Canada. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is a figure for the whole province: every place with a page, towns, reserves and cities together, each counted by the people living in it, so it speaks for almost everyone in the province. It is ranked against Canada’s other provinces and territories. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the province’s graded places of 2,500+, the share whose place is in Canada’s top quarter on the subject.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the province’s standing among Canada’s 13 provinces and territories: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best province, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a province has. Provinces and territories with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A province figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a province is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools have no province figure: each province writes its own tests, and only Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta publish results school by school, so only their towns carry a Schools measure. Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have too few graded places for the town measure, so their cards rest on the province figure. First Nations reserves are in no ranking, the town measure included. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Canadian towns against each other only, run #73 of 10 November 2026 · Province figures: each place with a page (every census subdivision of 1,000+, 98% of Canadians) weighted by its people; Statistics Canada, CMHC, Health Canada and Natural Resources Canada data, as each subject’s source line says. 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).