Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Smithers than in 94% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 180.8 and other offences for 212.6, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crime the police covering Smithers reported from 2023 to 2025: #240 of 251 in British Columbia. Behind the grade sit 30.2 violent incidents and 95.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident.
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 Smithers
Mischief: high for a town its size
Smithers records 30.1 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Smithers scores 202.3. Towns its size ↓
Down since 2023
From 247.6 in 2023 to 187.2 in 2025: that is Smithers’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Smithers is 37th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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.
Inside Smithers’s D for safety
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: #240 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,507 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.
What police record in Smithers, by type
Against the typical town its size, Smithers runs highest on mischief (30.1 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (3.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and theft under $5,000 (43.3 per 1,000 against 14.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 47 | 8.3 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8 | 1.4 | 38% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 15.3 | 2.7 | 22% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.7 | 1.2 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 244 | 43.3 | 18% |
| Mischief | 169.7 | 30.1 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 1.1 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 104.7 | 18.6 | 82% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.7 | 2.1 | 43% |
| Drug violations | 17.7 | 3.1 | 19% |
| Impaired driving | 14.7 | 2.6 | 61% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
In Smithers, down 24% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 247.6, and its lowest 2024, at 172.1. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Smithers | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 187.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 172.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 247.6 | 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 Smithers, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Smithers is 37th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Ferris Ontario | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 5,390 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Spallumcheen British Columbia | 5,843 | 51.3 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Juan de Fuca (Part 1) British Columbia | 5,439 | 63.5 | 90.2 | B− |
| 25 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 65 | 107 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Annapolis County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 5,694 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| 35 | Osoyoos British Columbia | 5,724 | 97.9 | 68.6 | C− |
| 36 | Seguin Ontario | 5,761 | 106.9 | 196.4 | C− |
| 37 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 202.3 | 180.8 | D |
| 38 | Meadow Lake Saskatchewan | 5,667 | 335.8 | 395.4 | D− |
| 39 | Duncan British Columbia | 5,745 | 384.5 | 331.1 | D− |
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 Smithers in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 170 violent incidents a year reached Smithers’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 540 property crimes and 310 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 Smithers
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | 5,627 | 202.3 | 180.8 | D |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako | 5,829 | 65 | 107 | B− |
| Telkwa | 1,544 | 65 | 107 | B− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Smithers. Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako, 4.2 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 65 to 202.3.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- How serious, not how safe. 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 Smithers
Is Smithers safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Smithers’s Crime Severity Index stands at 202.3 for 2023–2025. Its police record 30.2 violent incidents and 95.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Smithers?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 47 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 43.3 and mischief at 30.1.
Is crime going up in Smithers?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 24%, to 187.2 from 247.6.
How much of Smithers’s crime do police solve?
26%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 44% and non-violent crime at 19%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Smithers 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).