Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0Victoria sees more crime per resident than nine in ten Canadian towns
The yearly rates were 27.0 violent incidents and 59.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. Split in two, the index gives 160.1 for violence and 163.2 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). It grades D for safety on crime the police covering Victoria reported from 2023 to 2025: #231 of 251 in British Columbia. What’s more, each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records 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 Victoria
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Victoria records 7.1 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Over the British Columbia norm
Within British Columbia, the median town comes to 83.2 on the index, against 161.3 in Victoria. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Victoria stands 39th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Below-typical clearance
For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the typical clearance rate is 38%; Victoria’s police clear 22%, 33% of violent crime and 18% of the rest. Questions ↓
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 Victoria’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: #231 of 251 in British Columbia and #2,472 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
What police record in Victoria, by type
Against the typical town its size, Victoria runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (4.3 per 1,000 against 0.04), drug offences (7.1 per 1,000 against 0.9) and mischief (15 per 1,000 against 3.8). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 72.7 | 0.7 | 13% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 68 | 0.7 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 122.3 | 1.2 | 38% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 10.7 | 0.1 | 81% |
| Other violent violations | 16 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 441.7 | 4.3 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 47 | 0.5 | 55% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 117.7 | 1.1 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 82 | 0.8 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 3,228 | 31.5 | 13% |
| Mischief | 1,535.3 | 15 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 108.3 | 1.1 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 519 | 5.1 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 162.7 | 1.6 | 58% |
| Drug violations | 730.3 | 7.1 | 31% |
| Impaired driving | 157.3 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 6.3 | 0.06 | 43% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Among 40 towns its size, Victoria places 39th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Lethbridge Alberta | 113,671 | 128.5 | 142 | D |
| 37 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 142.2 | 158.4 | D |
| 38 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 148.2 | 134.8 | D |
| 39 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Victoria in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Victoria recorded about 2,770 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 6,110 property crimes and 2,670 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Victoria’s index fell 5% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 170.6, and its lowest 2024, at 152.2. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Victoria | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 161.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 152.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 170.6 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Victoria, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Victoria
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | — | — | — |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 54.5 | 53.9 | B |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 49.8 | 63.6 | B+ |
Victoria has the highest index of the places around it. Just 3.2 km away, Oak Bay comes to 26.7, against 161.3.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. 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 Victoria
Is Victoria safe?
Victoria scores 161.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 27 violent incidents and 59.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Victoria?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 31.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (16.7) and assault (15.4).
Is crime going up in Victoria?
No: the index fell 5%, from 170.6 in 2023 to 161.2 in 2025.
How much of Victoria’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 22%: 33% for violent crime and 18% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Victoria 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).