Photo: FedexPope · CC BY 3.0Crime per resident in Victoria runs lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
That puts it at A+ for safety, judged on crime the police covering Victoria reported from 2023 to 2025. Split in two, the index gives 36.9 for violence and 23 for everything else (normally 86.4 and 62.8). The yearly rates were 5.6 violent incidents and 9.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Measured across the Manitou detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Victoria
Lighter than Manitoba’s middle
The typical Manitoba town scores 129.3; Victoria, 26.8. 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 sits behind Victoria’s A+
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 49 km from Victoria, not to the town.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
About 38 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Victoria (6,880 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.
Add about 63 property crimes and 35 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 held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 33.5; 2023 was the lightest, at 23.2. In the same years the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ read 70.6 (2023), then 62.9 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Victoria | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23.7 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 33.5 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 23.2 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Victoria, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Which crimes make up Victoria’s figures
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 7 | 1 | 10% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 1.2 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11 | 1.6 | 30% |
| Mischief | 18.7 | 2.7 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 11.7 | 1.7 | 60% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8 | 1.2 | 46% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 people or more.
Crime in the places around Victoria
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 1,333 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| Norfolk-Treherne (21 km) | 1,960 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| Glenboro-South Cypress (25 km) | 1,759 | 42.8 | 34.6 | A− |
| Lorne (34 km) | 3,022 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| Argyle (39 km) | 1,035 | 42.8 | 34.6 | A− |
| North Norfolk (41 km) | 4,084 | 67.8 | 71.8 | B− |
Victoria has the lowest index of the places around it. 2 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Victoria with figures are 21–41 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Victoria
Is Victoria safe?
Victoria scores 26.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 5.6 violent incidents and 9.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Victoria?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 3.2 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (2.7) and assault (2.4).
Is crime going up in Victoria?
The index stayed close to where it was, 23.2 in 2023 and 23.7 in 2025.
How much of Victoria’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 39% of crime (66% of violent crime, 21% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Victoria and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).