Crime and crime severity in Nanaimo are trending downward, according to Statics Canada.
The most recent data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday, July 22, pegged Nanaimo’s crime severity index number at 106.7, a dip of about 16 per cent from 2023’s figures. The crime rate figure was also down to 9,365 per 100,000 people, representing an eight-per cent drop year over year.
The crime severity index includes all Criminal Code violations including traffic, as well as drug violations and all federal statutes. The crime rate represents the number of crimes per 100,000 people. The crime severity index adjusts the rate based on the severity of crimes.
The city’s crime severity index has been steadily declining overall since it peaked in 2019 and appears to be following the national trend.
“There’s a variety of reasons that we’re looking at,” said reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson. “It’s not a perfect science, but we think there are a number of contributing factors that led to an overall reduction.”
O’Brien cited the efforts of specialized RCMP units, including the specialized investigative targeted enforcement team, which he said has focused on “troublemakers.”
“These are the people who cause a lot of havoc in our community and they tie up resources, not only from a policing perspective, but from ambulance and bylaws and [community safety officers],” he said. “They have a real drain and these people were being held accountable.”
Many of those individuals were under court conditions from prior charges and, when “street-checked," those who were found in breach of conditions were arrested “and often they would go back and service a significant jail time,” O’Brien said.
He also credited bike unit officers with confiscating street weapons “in large numbers” from people who carry them for self-defence or intimidation.
Non-violent crime statistics may have been skewed downward by construction on Commercial Street.
“Maybe it’s kind of anecdotal, we know that a lot of theft from vehicles were focused, historically, in the downtown area and the parkades,” O’Brien said. “The downtown was turned upside-down in the last 18 months with all the construction and there weren’t a lot of vehicles being parked there on the streets or in the parkades. We may be totally wrong, but we think that may have led to a reduction in theft from vehicles and auto thefts.”
According to Statistics Canada’s report, police-reported crime across Canada, as measured by the crime severity index, dropped four per cent in 2024 after three years of increases.
“This was the second decrease in a decade, with the other decline coinciding with the onset of the of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The 2024 CSI was just over one-third lower (-34 per cent) than its peak in 1998, the first year CSI data were available,” Statics Canada’s report noted.
The report also said non-violent crime, such as property and drug offences, dropped six per cent in 2024 after increasing nine per cent from 2021-23, with declines in five non-violent offences – breaking and entering, child pornography, motor vehicle theft, theft under $5,000, and mischief – actually accounting for 75 per cent of the decline overall.
Violent crimes, including sexual assault, extortion, robbery, attempted murder and aggravated assault accounted for 80 per cent of the one-per cent drop in Canada’s national crime severity index that had risen 15 per cent over the previous three years.
But B.C.'s Save Our Streets coalition of more than 100 community and business organizations says Statistics Canada's report doesn't capture the full picture of criminal activity in the province – citing StatsCan's figures reporting a 66-per cent increase in shoplifting over the past 10 years – and that "too many people see little value in reporting crimes," according to a press release Wednesday, July 23.
The coalition says feedback from B.C. residents and businesses and provincewide polling suggests the crimes rates in communities across the province are likely higher "as many crimes are going unreported because people have lost faith in the justice system," the release noted.
Despite encouraging statistics around local and national crime rates and severity, Nanaimo, nevertheless, still ranks in the top 10 in crime severity among Canada’s 40 census metropolitan areas, tied for seventh place behind Chilliwack at 141.7, Kamloops at 129.9; Winnipeg, Man., at 124.4, Red Deer, Alta., at 118.7, Kelowna at 108.8, and Thunder Bay, Ont., at 107.7. Saskatoon's crime severity index is the same as Nanaimo's at 106.7. Lethbridge, Alta., at 105.5, Edmonton at 101.1 and Regina at 100.3, round out the top 10 list.
