Dawson Creek climbs Statistic Canada’s ‘Crime Severity Index’ while numbers also up in Fort St. John

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. - Dawson Creek is climbing the list of Canada’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) in 2025, according to newly released Statistics Canada data.

The increase was driven largely by a surge in violent crime, which rose at a much faster rate than the city’s overall crime severity score.

The city recorded an overall CSI of 215.2, an increase of 29.5 per cent from the previous year. The Crime Severity Index measures both the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime, giving greater weight to more serious offences.

But Staff Sargeant Rob Hughes points out the number doesn’t mean the city is 29.5 per cent more dangerous, anymore than the previous year’s decrease didn’t suggest, the city was 35.5 per cent safer.

Hughes also says the numbers don’t take into account the files from what is a large rural area surrounding Dawson Creek.

Violent crime was the primary factor behind the increase. Dawson Creek’s violent CSI jumped to 324.4, up 54.4 per cent year-over-year, while the non-violent CSI rose 15.6 per cent to 173.4.

The violent crime severity increase was nearly twice the rate of the city’s overall CSI growth, indicating that more serious offences were a major driver of the higher crime severity rating.

The figures place Dawson Creek among the communities with the highest crime severity scores in Canada and among the highest in British Columbia.

Staff Sergeant Hughes said, “While crime severity remains a concern, the Statistics Canada data do not support the characterization that Dawson Creek has become progressively more dangerous year after year.”

Its CSI was significantly higher than many of the country’s largest urban centres, including Vancouver (89.3), Calgary (62.9), Toronto (60.0), and Montréal (78.4).

The Crime Severity Index is used by Statistics Canada to track changes in crime by measuring both how often crimes occur and their relative seriousness.

The index is intended to be used in conjunction with other statistics not provided in the report, to provide a more complete picture of crime trends.

Staff Sergeant Hughes said, “2025 recorded fewer total incidents than in 2021 and in 2022, relevant to the CSI. What that means is although there where fewer file, the severity of some of those spike the CSI.”

Hughes says with the population of Dawson Creek, one first degree murder charge jumped the CSI by 9.8 per cent. That number would be much lower in a bigger city.

Hughes says the pro-active work by the ‘Violence Suppression Initiative’ is paying off. In the last 3 years, police have arrested a number of violent criminals and drug dealers and that has also increased the CSI number for Dawson Creek.

Hughes said, “Proactive work by the detachment has resulted in more charge against our prolific offenders which negatively impacts the CSI with negative numbers.”

Elsewhere in the Peace Region, Fort St. John also recorded a high CSI score of 193.8, although its crime severity rating declined 3.5 per cent from the previous year.

The community’s violent CSI fell 7.1 per cent to 224.1, while its non-violent CSI decreased to 183.3.

The contrast between the two neighbouring communities is notable. While Dawson Creek experienced substantial increases in both overall and violent crime severity, Fort St. John saw declines across most categories.

The gap was especially pronounced in violent crime, which increased sharply in Dawson Creek while also increasing in Fort St. John.

In the Energetic City, the CSI rose by 7 per cent from 2024 to 2025. Fort St. John’s violent CSI jumped 21 per cent.

Sergeant Jaime Moffat, the Acting Officer in Charge of the Fort St John RCMP said “While we’re seeing a 7% increase in the overall Crime Severity Index and a 21% increase in the Violent Crime Severity Index, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Our officers continue to be proactive, focusing on the offenders and criminal activity that have the greatest impact on community safety.”

Moffat said the detachment made significant strides in addressing the ‘guns and gangs’ landscape through targeted enforcement, strong partnerships, and intelligence-led policing.

“While there is still work to do, we’re committed to holding offenders accountable and continuing our efforts to make our communities safer,” said Moffat.

Other Northeast B.C. communities posted lower scores. Tumbler Ridge recorded an overall CSI of 61.1, down 22.5 per cent from a year earlier.

The province is also reporting an overall decline in crime severity. B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General said the province’s overall Crime Severity Index has fallen for the second consecutive year.

“New Statistics Canada data shows B.C.’s Crime Severity Index is down for the second year in a row, nearly 12 per cent lower than in 2023 and at its lowest level in years,” said Nina Krieger.

She attributed the decline to “sustained partnerships and investments in enforcement and intervention” involving governments, police services, community organizations and businesses.

Krieger said the province plans to continue targeting repeat offenders, organized crime and chronic property crime through a series of enforcement and intervention initiatives.

Nationally, some of Canada’s highest CSI scores were reported in smaller northern and Indigenous communities, while Dawson Creek’s score remained among the highest recorded by communities with populations over 5,000.

Statistics Canada says the CSI helps communities better understand the impact of crime by measuring not only how much crime occurs, but also the severity of the offences.

Highest CSI Communities in Canada (2025)

All values are taken directly from the Statistics Canada Crime Severity Index table as being reported by police.