Crime has been on the mind of many BC and Vancouver residents, but how did the city and province fare in 2021 when looking at the Crime Severity Index?
The Crime Severity Index or CSI is an annual release from Stats Canada on police-reported crimes. In Canada last year, there were 25,500 more police-reported crimes than the year previous.
In BC, several cities appeared near the top of the list when it comes to the prevalence of police-reported crime.
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Before digging into how BC is reflected in the stats, it’s important to note that according to Statistics Canada “results from the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization) showed that just under one-third (29%) of violent and non-violent incidents were reported to police. Similarly, just over one-fifth (22%) of incidents perceived to be motivated by hate were reported to police.”
Crime in BC in 2021
The crime severity index for Canada in 2021 was 73.7 and several BC cities appear above the average.
When the CSI mentions Vancouver, it’s important to note that it means Metro Vancouver, which would include cities like Surrey, New West and Burnaby.
Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index
Kelowna was well above the average and had the second highest CSI in 2021 at 122.3, behind Lethbridge, Alberta, (128.7) which took the top spot for CSI. Vancouver was above the average at 81.6, and the only major Canadian city with a higher CSI was Edmonton (97.5). Abbotsford-Mission also found itself above the average with a CSI of 78.2
When looking at police-reported violent crime specifically, Vancouver (79.0) did fall under the national average (92.5). Vancouver also saw a major increase in homicides (+14) when looking at 2020 compared to 2021.
Sexual assault was a large factor in the latest CSI, and 2021 saw a big jump compared to 2020.
The CSI states that the “rise in Canada’s Violent CSI in 2021 was primarily driven by an 18% increase in the rate of level 1 sexual assault. This rise accounted for over one-third of the increase in the Violent CSI.”
In 2020, the rate of sexual assault (level 1, 2, and 3) per 100,000 population was 76. In 2021 that number jumped to 96. That’s the highest since 1997.
The CSI in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia had the largest relative downward impact on the national CSI, with -7% and -5% respectively.
Crime Severity Indexes are based on Criminal Code incidents, including traffic offences, as well as other federal statute violations. The base index was set at 100 for 2006 for Canada.
With files from Laine Mitchell
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