Photo: Sidney Museum · CC BY-SA 3.0Sidney sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Next door, 4 of 5 towns with figures record less crime per resident. Police counts work out at 8.8 violent incidents and 21.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.0 and 30.5. Its Safety Grade, B− (#74 of 251 in British Columbia), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. A Crime Severity Index of 68.4, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 66 for the typical Canadian 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 Sidney
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Sidney stands 25th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Down since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Sidney moved from 75.2 to 63.9, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
About the British Columbia norm
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 68.4 in Sidney. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Violent crime scores 72.4 on Sidney’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 67.3 against 56. By type ↓
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 Sidney’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: #74 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,304 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.
Which crimes make up Sidney’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Sidney runs highest on fraud (7 per 1,000 against 5.1) and mischief (4.4 per 1,000 against 3.7). Assault and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 13 | 1 | 41% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.08 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.08 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 13.3 | 1 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.7 | 0.4 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 111.7 | 8.4 | 19% |
| Mischief | 58 | 4.4 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 25.7 | 1.9 | 77% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.3 | 0.8 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 11.3 | 0.9 | 50% |
| Impaired driving | 23 | 1.7 | 71% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Sidney’s index dropped 15%
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 75.2, against a low of 63.9 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Sidney | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.9 | 60 |
| 2024 | 66 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 75.2 | 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 Sidney, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Sidney is 25th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 11 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 37.5 | 32.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 22 | View Royal British Columbia | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| 23 | Rawdon Quebec | 13,099 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 24 | Lorette Manitoba | 13,509 | 58.8 | 39.1 | B |
| 25 | Sidney British Columbia | 13,445 | 68.4 | 72.4 | B− |
| 26 | Dolbeau-Mistassini Quebec | 13,581 | 68.9 | 107.3 | C+ |
| 27 | Ayr Ontario | 13,051 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 28 | Kings County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 12,661 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Terrace British Columbia | 13,648 | 174.6 | 155 | D |
| 35 | Prince Rupert British Columbia | 12,903 | 185.2 | 292.9 | D |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Dawson Creek British Columbia | 13,635 | 213.1 | 300.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Sidney in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Sidney recorded about 120 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 290 property crimes and 240 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 Sidney
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney | 13,445 | 68.4 | 72.4 | B− |
| North Saanich | 12,986 | 37.5 | 32.9 | A |
| East Saanich 2 | 1,962 | — | — | — |
| Central Saanich | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley | 5,156 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| Cobble Hill | 5,074 | 49.9 | 52.5 | B+ |
| Highlands | 2,753 | 92.7 | 168.2 | C |
Sidney sits above 4 of the 5 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 2.4 km away, North Saanich comes to 37.5, against 68.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Sidney
Is Sidney safe?
Statistics Canada puts Sidney at 68.4 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people sit at 66 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 8.8 and property crimes at 21.8 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Sidney?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 12.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of theft under $5,000 (8.4) and fraud (7).
Is crime going up in Sidney?
No: the index fell 15%, from 75.2 in 2023 to 63.9 in 2025.
How much of Sidney’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 24% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 42% of violent crime and 16% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Sidney’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).