Photo: Keefer4~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 2.5Saanich sees less crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 49.7 and 37.1. Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 44.5 in 2023 to 40 by 2025. What’s more, from 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Saanich reported put it at A− for safety: #14 of 251 in British Columbia. The yearly rates were 9.1 violent incidents and 19.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical 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 Saanich
Under the British Columbia norm
Saanich’s index of 40.5 compares with 83.2 for the typical town in British Columbia. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Saanich places 6th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 28% of crime in Saanich ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 42% of violent crime and 20% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 38%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: A− for Saanich
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: #14 of 251 in British Columbia and #306 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Saanich comes 6th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 34.5 | 57.5 | A |
| 4 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| 5 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| 6 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| 7 | Terrebonne Quebec | 126,872 | 41.6 | 72.5 | A− |
| 8 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 44 | 56.2 | A− |
| 9 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 44.3 | 48.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Langley British Columbia | 163,885 | 82.4 | 77.3 | C |
| 31 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| 32 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | 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 Saanich in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Saanich, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (44.5); the low point came in 2024, at 37. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Saanich | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 37 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 44.5 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Saanich, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 1,140 violent incidents a year reached Saanich’s police, 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 2,490 a year and other violations 810 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Which crimes make up Saanich’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Saanich runs highest on mischief (4.4 per 1,000 against 3.8). Theft under $5,000 and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.00 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 16 | 0.1 | 31% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 21.3 | 0.2 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 24.3 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 29.3 | 0.2 | 68% |
| Breaking and entering | 184.3 | 1.5 | 21% |
| Possession of stolen property | 15.7 | 0.1 | 66% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 40.7 | 0.3 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 37.3 | 0.3 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,126.3 | 9 | 13% |
| Mischief | 555 | 4.4 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 33.7 | 0.3 | 71% |
| Administration of justice violations | 208.7 | 1.7 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 51 | 0.4 | 30% |
| Drug violations | 38.3 | 0.3 | 70% |
| Impaired driving | 275.7 | 2.2 | 92% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.7 | 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 50,000 people or more.
Crime in the places around Saanich
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saanich | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| Victoria | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | — | — | — |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
Saanich sits above 1 of the 5 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 6.3 km away, Oak Bay comes to 26.7, against 40.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Saanich
Is Saanich safe?
Statistics Canada puts Saanich at 40.5 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more sit at 60.3 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 9.1 and property crimes at 19.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Saanich?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (9 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 4.4, and assault, at 4.2, follow.
Is crime going up in Saanich?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 10%, to 40 from 44.5.
How much of Saanich’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 42% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 28% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Saanich 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).