Kamloops no longer has the highest crime rate in Canada

After knocking Kelowna off its seat last year, Kamloops no longer has the highest crime rate in Canada.

Kelowna held that title two years running, in 2021 and 2022 and was replaced by Kamloops in 2023.

According to data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday, Kamloops’ crime rate dropped by 19% compared to last year with 10,546 crimes per 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, Kamloops’ crime severity index, which assigns a weight based on the seriousness of crimes, dropped to 129.9, a 21% decrease from 165.3 reported last year.

Another city in the Southern Interior saw another decline in both its crime rate and crime severity index score.

Kelowna saw another year of improvements with 8,922 crimes per 100,000 reported in 2024, a decline of -5% from 2023.

Kelowna’s crime severity index dropped 9% to 108.8 from the 118.6 reported last year.

Chilliwack now sits at the top of the national list with a crime rate of 11,352 per 100,000 and Red Deer came in second with a rate of 10,650.

Chilliwack also has the highest crime severity index in the country at 141.7, which is followed by Kamloops (129.9), Winnipeg (124.4) and Red Deer (118.7).

Overall, BC’s crime rate in 2024 was recorded at 6,861 per 100,000, a 7% decline from 2023.

The province’s crime severity index sits at 93 for last year, down 11% from the year before.

Nationally, Stats Canada says police-reported crime rate (excluding traffic offences) decreased 4% from a year earlier to 5,672 incidents per 100,000 population.

That follows three consecutive years of increases.

“The Non-violent CSI–which includes, for example, property offences and drug offences – declined 6% in 2024, following a 9% increase from 2021 to 2023,” says Stats Canada.

The agency says the five violations that contributed the most to the decline in the overall CSI in 2024 were non-violent in nature, accounting for three-quarters of the overall decrease.

“In order of impact on the CSI, police-reported rates of breaking and entering (-11% of the rate per 100,000 population), child pornography (-15%), motor vehicle theft (-17%), theft of $5,000 or under (-9%) and mischief (-6%) were all down from 2023,” the agency says.