Photo: C Robson · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitehorse has more crime per resident than 93% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 196.7 and its non-violent half to 163.2, where the norm is 89.4 and 56. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 38%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Still, on crime the police covering Whitehorse reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #2,490 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Typical years here bring 37.7 violent incidents plus 91.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 30.5 in the typical 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. Shared with the rest of the Whitehorse detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Whitehorse
Mischief: high for a town its size
Whitehorse records 43 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 ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Whitehorse places 40th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Whitehorse scores 196.7 for violence and 163.2 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 89.4 and 56. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Whitehorse’s D for safety
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: #2,490 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.
Crime in Whitehorse, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Whitehorse runs highest on mischief (43 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (3.8 per 1,000 against 0.8) and assault (21.2 per 1,000 against 6.6).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 20.3 | 0.5 | 43% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 29 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 9.3 | 0.2 | 51% |
| Robbery | 28.3 | 0.7 | 58% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 10 | 0.3 | 73% |
| Other violent violations | 13.3 | 0.3 | 30% |
| Breaking and entering | 189.7 | 4.9 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 48.7 | 1.3 | 33% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 106.3 | 2.7 | 21% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 24.3 | 0.6 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,186.3 | 30.6 | 19% |
| Mischief | 1,667 | 43 | 37% |
| Weapons violations | 63.3 | 1.6 | 55% |
| Administration of justice violations | 668.7 | 17.2 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 129.7 | 3.4 | 42% |
| Drug violations | 149.7 | 3.8 | 22% |
| Impaired driving | 338.7 | 8.7 | 31% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 19 | 0.5 | 12% |
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.
By its index, Whitehorse stands 40th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Courtenay British Columbia | 32,869 | 131.2 | 129 | D |
| 38 | Campbell River British Columbia | 38,300 | 162.9 | 166.6 | D |
| 39 | Penticton British Columbia | 39,068 | 164 | 142.9 | D |
| 40 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | 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 Whitehorse in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Whitehorse’s index fell 14% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 184.8 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 158.7 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Whitehorse | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 158.7 | 60 |
| 2024 | 171.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 184.8 | 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 Whitehorse, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
39,700 residents, about 1,460 violent incidents a year: the police area Whitehorse belongs to, 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 3,530 property crimes, plus 2,530 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 Whitehorse
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehorse | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | D |
| Macpherson-Grizzly Valley (21 km) | 1,634 | 171.7 | 196.7 | D |
The table leaves out one neighbour whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Whitehorse has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 21 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Whitehorse together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Whitehorse
Is Whitehorse safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Whitehorse’s Crime Severity Index stands at 171.7 for 2023–2025. Its police record 37.7 violent incidents and 91 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Whitehorse?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 49.2, mischief at 43 and theft under $5,000 at 30.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Whitehorse?
It went down 14% between 2023 and 2025, from 184.8 to 158.7.
How much of Whitehorse’s crime do police solve?
38%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 53% and non-violent crime at 31%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Whitehorse 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).