Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Sechelt than in 89% of Canadian towns
Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Police clear 24% of crime, weighted by seriousness; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%. What’s more, a Safety Grade of D follows from crime the police covering Sechelt reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #221 of 251 in British Columbia. Split in two, the index gives 114.9 for violence and 153.1 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56).
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 Sechelt
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Sechelt records 10.2 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Sechelt’s two halves part ways: 114.9 for violence (typical 89.4) and 153.1 for the rest (typical 56). By type ↓
Above British Columbia’s typical town
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 141.3 in Sechelt. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Sechelt stands 37th, 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.
What sits behind Sechelt’s D
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: #221 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,444 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.
Sechelt’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Sechelt runs highest on break and enter (10.2 per 1,000 against 2.2), mischief (14.6 per 1,000 against 3.7) and drug offences (2.7 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 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6.7 | 0.6 | 40% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 7.7 | 0.7 | 43% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 116.3 | 10.2 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 21 | 1.8 | 51% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17.3 | 1.5 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.3 | 0.8 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 252 | 22 | 11% |
| Mischief | 167 | 14.6 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 14 | 1.2 | 57% |
| Administration of justice violations | 146 | 12.8 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 19.7 | 1.7 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 31.3 | 2.7 | 60% |
| Impaired driving | 42 | 3.7 | 71% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.2 | — |
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, Sechelt stands 37th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Coldstream British Columbia | 11,380 | 45.1 | 61.9 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Estevan Saskatchewan | 11,391 | 103.1 | 136.2 | C− |
| 35 | Smiths Falls Ontario | 11,093 | 105.1 | 147.6 | C− |
| 36 | La Tuque Quebec | 11,309 | 106.1 | 199 | C− |
| 37 | Sechelt British Columbia | 11,558 | 141.3 | 114.9 | D |
| 38 | Selkirk Manitoba | 11,570 | 158 | 197.4 | D |
| 39 | Clearwater County Alberta | 11,856 | 188.3 | 342.3 | D |
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Sechelt in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Sechelt’s index rose 18% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
It finished on its highest reading, 149.5 in 2025, having been lowest in 2023 at 126.5. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Sechelt | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 149.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 148 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 126.5 | 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 Sechelt, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 260 violent incidents a year reached Sechelt’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.
Add about 670 property crimes and 470 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Sechelt
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sechelt | 11,558 | 141.3 | 114.9 | D |
| Welcome Beach | 3,130 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| Roberts Creek | 3,779 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast | 4,279 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
Sechelt has the highest index of the places around it. Just 10.9 km away, Welcome Beach comes to 76.6, against 141.3.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
Questions about safety in Sechelt
Is Sechelt safe?
Sechelt scores 141.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66; per 1,000 residents a year that is 23 violent incidents and 58.9 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Sechelt?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (33.5 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 22, and mischief, at 14.6, follow.
Is crime going up in Sechelt?
It went up 18% between 2023 and 2025, from 126.5 to 149.5.
How much of Sechelt’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 24% of crime (41% of violent crime, 20% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Sechelt 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).