Photo: (WT-shared) Bulliver at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 1.0For recorded crime, Summerland sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Overall, it grades B for safety (#50 of 251 in British Columbia). None of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Annual rates stand at 10.3 violent incidents and 27.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 56.2 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 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 Summerland
Mischief: high for a town its size
Summerland records 9.9 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Easing since 2023
In 2023 the index in Summerland stood at 73.7, by 2025 at 42.8. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Violent crime scores 38.6 on Summerland’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 63.7 against 56. By type ↓
Less crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 13% of crime in Summerland ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 29% of violent crime and 9% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
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 Summerland’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: #50 of 251 in British Columbia and #736 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Summerland’s index dropped 42%
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 73.7; the lightest was 2025, at 42.8. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Summerland | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 42.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 52 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 73.7 | 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 Summerland, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Summerland’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Summerland runs highest on mischief (9.9 per 1,000 against 3.7) and break and enter (2.6 per 1,000 against 2.2). Assault 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 | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 32.3 | 2.6 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 29 | 2.3 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.7 | 0.6 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 86.7 | 7 | 8% |
| Mischief | 122 | 9.9 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 38.3 | 3.1 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 0.7 | 26% |
| Drug violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 16 | 1.3 | 92% |
| 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.
Summerland comes 27th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Saint-Sauveur Quebec | 12,112 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| 25 | View Royal British Columbia | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| 26 | Marieville Quebec | 11,910 | 55 | 88.5 | B |
| 27 | Summerland British Columbia | 12,343 | 56.2 | 38.6 | B |
| 28 | St. Clements Manitoba | 12,029 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 29 | St. Andrews Manitoba | 12,021 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 30 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 38 | Nelson British Columbia | 12,126 | 100.4 | 98.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Clearwater County Alberta | 11,856 | 188.3 | 342.3 | 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 Summerland in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 130 violent incidents a year on Summerland’s police records (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 340 property crimes, plus 160 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 Summerland
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerland | 12,343 | 56.2 | 38.6 | B |
| Electoral Area F, Okanagan-Similkameen | 2,149 | 71.9 | 63.7 | C+ |
| Naramata | 2,077 | 71.9 | 63.7 | C+ |
| Penticton 1 | 2,147 | — | — | — |
| Penticton | 39,068 | 164 | 142.9 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Summerland.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Summerland
Is Summerland safe?
Summerland measures 56.2 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 10.3 violent incidents and 27.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Summerland?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 10.3, mischief at 9.9 and theft under $5,000 at 7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Summerland?
The reverse: 73.7 in 2023 came down to 42.8 by 2025, 42% lower.
How much of Summerland’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 13%: 29% for violent crime and 9% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Summerland 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).