Kelowna’s crime severity ranking improves, mayor says work remains

Kelowna’s ranking on the national Crime Severity Index has improved, but Mayor Tom Dyas says the city still has work to do on community safety.

The 2025 Crime Severity Index shows Kelowna ranked 20th out of 71 B.C. municipalities with populations above 10,000, and 273rd out of 1,039 municipalities measured across Canada.

Dyas says the numbers show Kelowna is not among the country’s highest-crime communities, but cautions the index is only one measure of safety.

“While any reduction is encouraging, the CSI is only one measure of community safety and should be viewed as part of a broader picture,” Dyas said.

The index tracks reported criminal offences but does not capture the full experience of residents, businesses or the broader social challenges facing some neighbourhoods.

A separate measure looks at the Kelowna Census Metropolitan Area, which includes Kelowna, Lake Country, West Kelowna, Peachland and surrounding regional areas. The CMA ranked ninth out of 41 metropolitan areas in Canada.

Dyas says the city has invested in community safety initiatives, including adding 34 RCMP officers and 17 bylaw staff, expanding prevention programs and launching new crisis response and community policing initiatives.

“Behind every statistic is a person or a business affected by crime,” he said. “Our goal is not only to see improvement in the data, but for residents and business owners to feel safe in their daily lives.”

The mayor says the city will continue pushing for more support from other levels of government, including mental health resources, justice system improvements and additional Crown prosecutors.

Dyas says the latest numbers are encouraging, but “one year’s results do not define long-term success.”

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