Photo: 36reasons · Public domainRecorded crime per resident is higher in West Kelowna than in 65% of Canadian towns
British Columbia’s towns sit around 83.2, midway up their range. Violence and property crime split as 14.3 violent incidents and 26.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. What’s more, the Safety Grade comes out at C+, drawn from crime the police covering West Kelowna reported through 2023 to 2025: #113 of 251 in British Columbia. A Crime Severity Index of 78.4, 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 West Kelowna
Drug offences: high for a town its size
West Kelowna records 2.1 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
West Kelowna’s index splits into violent crime, 79.1 here and 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 78.8 against 56. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, West Kelowna comes 22nd, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the typical clearance rate is 33%; West Kelowna’s police clear 24%, 37% of violent crime and 19% 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’s behind West Kelowna’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: #113 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,604 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.
What police record in West Kelowna, by type
Against the typical town its size, West Kelowna runs highest on drug offences (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.8), mischief (6.6 per 1,000 against 3.7) and break and enter (2.9 per 1,000 against 2.2). Sexual assault and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 17.7 | 0.4 | 27% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5.3 | 0.1 | 89% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3 | 0.08 | — |
| Robbery | 7.7 | 0.2 | 56% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7 | 0.2 | 47% |
| Breaking and entering | 117.7 | 2.9 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 19.7 | 0.5 | 46% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 60.7 | 1.5 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 20 | 0.5 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 372.7 | 9.3 | 12% |
| Mischief | 264.3 | 6.6 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 29.3 | 0.7 | 44% |
| Administration of justice violations | 80.7 | 2 | 59% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 35.7 | 0.9 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 83.3 | 2.1 | 59% |
| Impaired driving | 63 | 1.6 | 93% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 14.3 | 0.4 | 23% |
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.
West Kelowna’s police: about 570 violent incidents a year over 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.
Property crime adds about 1,060 a year and other violations 640 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
In West Kelowna, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 81.3 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 75.6. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | West Kelowna | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.3 | 60 |
| 2024 | 75.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 81.3 | 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 West Kelowna, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
West Kelowna comes 22nd of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Port Moody British Columbia | 38,285 | 43.5 | 43.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 16 | West Vancouver British Columbia | 47,929 | 57.2 | 59.8 | B |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Stratford Ontario | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| 20 | Rouyn-Noranda Quebec | 43,270 | 66.7 | 112.8 | B− |
| 21 | Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Quebec | 47,002 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| 22 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78.4 | 79.1 | C+ |
| 23 | Côte-Saint-Luc Quebec | 37,901 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 24 | Pointe-Claire Quebec | 37,437 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 25 | Spruce Grove Alberta | 44,575 | 81.6 | 76.3 | C |
| … | |||||
| 28 | North Cowichan British Columbia | 34,525 | 99 | 124 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Mission British Columbia | 47,280 | 114.1 | 134.5 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 West Kelowna in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around West Kelowna
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Kelowna | 40,274 | 78.4 | 79.1 | C+ |
| Tsinstikeptum 9 | 10,514 | — | — | — |
| Tsinstikeptum 10 | 2,081 | — | — | — |
| Kelowna | 167,654 | 125.5 | 119.7 | D |
| Peachland | 6,302 | 44.1 | 39.2 | A− |
Of 2 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under West Kelowna. Just 12.9 km away, Peachland comes to 44.1, against 78.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. 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.
- 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.
- 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 West Kelowna
Is West Kelowna safe?
Its police recorded 14.3 violent incidents and 26.4 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives West Kelowna a Crime Severity Index of 78.4. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in West Kelowna?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 10.9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of theft under $5,000 (9.3) and assault (7).
Is crime going up in West Kelowna?
The index stayed close to where it was, 81.3 in 2023 and 78.3 in 2025.
How much of West Kelowna’s crime do police solve?
About 24% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 37% of violent and 19% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are West Kelowna’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).