Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainSouthern Gulf Islands records less crime per resident than 87% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 40.3 for violence and 39 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). A Safety Grade of A follows from crime the police covering Southern Gulf Islands reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #11 of 251 in British Columbia. Behind the grade sit 10.4 violent incidents and 13.4 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. What’s more, by 2025 the index had dropped to 34.7, down from 40.1 in 2023.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Saltspring Island detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Southern Gulf Islands
Crime per resident, visitors uncounted
About 38% of Southern Gulf Islands’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Lower than most of British Columbia
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Southern Gulf Islands scores 39.1. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Southern Gulf Islands is 9th 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.
What’s behind Southern Gulf Islands’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Southern Gulf Islands itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 16 km away.
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: #11 of 251 in British Columbia and #262 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 Southern Gulf Islands, by type
Against the typical town its size, Southern Gulf Islands runs highest on mischief (6 per 1,000 against 4.9) and drug offences (0.9 per 1,000 against 0.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 6.3 | 0.5 | 32% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 48 | 3.9 | 19% |
| Mischief | 74 | 6 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 18 | 1.4 | 56% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14.7 | 1.2 | 61% |
| Drug violations | 11 | 0.9 | 48% |
| Impaired driving | 57.3 | 4.6 | 77% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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.
Southern Gulf Islands, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 42.5 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 34.7 in 2025. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Southern Gulf Islands | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 42.5 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 40.1 | 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 Southern Gulf Islands, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Southern Gulf Islands comes 9th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 6,543 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Pontiac Quebec | 6,490 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| 7 | Pointe-Calumet Quebec | 6,427 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| 8 | Lanark Highlands Ontario | 6,370 | 33.1 | 38.8 | A |
| 9 | Southern Gulf Islands British Columbia | 6,691 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| 10 | Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel Quebec | 6,613 | 39.2 | 52 | A |
| 11 | Tweed Ontario | 6,504 | 46.8 | 68 | B+ |
| 12 | Ste. Anne Manitoba | 6,387 | 48.1 | 54.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay British Columbia | 7,006 | 56.2 | 70.5 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | St. Paul County No. 19 Alberta | 6,462 | 352.9 | 639.7 | 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 Southern Gulf Islands in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 130 violent incidents a year at the detachment nearest Southern Gulf Islands (12,400 residents), 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.
And about 170 property crimes, plus 240 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Southern Gulf Islands
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Gulf Islands | 6,691 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| Saltspring Island | 12,429 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| North Saanich | 12,986 | 37.5 | 32.9 | A |
| Sidney | 13,445 | 68.4 | 72.4 | B− |
Of 2 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under Southern Gulf Islands. Just 18.5 km away, North Saanich comes to 37.5, against 39.1. One neighbour is on the same police service or detachment, so it shares the figure and isn’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “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.
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Southern Gulf Islands
Is Southern Gulf Islands safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Southern Gulf Islands scores 39.1 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 10.4 violent and 13.4 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Southern Gulf Islands?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 11.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (6) and Criminal Code traffic offences (5.1).
Is crime going up in Southern Gulf Islands?
It went down 13% between 2023 and 2025, from 40.1 to 34.7.
How much of Southern Gulf Islands’s crime do police solve?
About 35% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 58% of violent and 25% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Southern Gulf Islands and everywhere else it polices.
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).