Crime is up across the province, according to the latest Crime Severity Index (CSI) from Statistics Canada, and one BC city is leading the way by a mile.
According to police-reported crime statistics in Canada, as measured by the CSI, BC, as a whole, saw an annual increase of 3.6% on the index between 2021 and 2022.
Kelowna has maintained its spot as the second-highest on the index (128), and the next-highest BC cities aren’t even close.
Violent crime is also up across the province, seeing an increase of 5.1% since last year.
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The index for Canada as a whole is 78.1.
Aside from Kelowna, other BC cities that ranked include Vancouver, which saw a 6% change since 2021 to 92.4, Abbotsford-Mission, which saw a 5% change to 85.3, and Victoria, which saw a 3% change. Aside from Victoria, which had an index of 75.0, all other BC cities were above the national average.
While the total number of criminal incidents was down across the province in 2022 compared to 2021, violent incidents were up. There were 81,526 violent incidents in 2022 compared to 81,313 the year before.
The number of people charged in BC in 2022 versus 2021 was also down. In 2021 there were 50,380 adults charged versus 47,270 charged in 2022.
The youth charge rate was also way up. In 2021, 1,794 youths were charged, while 2,127 were charged in 2022. The total youth crime rate was up 11.1% in BC in 2022 versus 2021.
Winnipeg led the way as the city that ranked highest on the CSI.