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Langford tops Toronto in list of Canada’s most dangerous places

West Shore municipalities well below national crime severity index average
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Rick Stiebel/News Gazette staff

In terms of crime severity, Langford is comparable to Toronto.

But the three West Shore municipalities included in a study that examined Canadian cities in terms of crime severity ranked well below the national average.

The study by Maclean’s magazine used data released in July from Statistics Canada to rank 229 communities with a population of at least 10,000 people to compile a crime severity index based on specific crime statistics. The final analysis was based on crimes that included homicide, assault and bodily harm, theft, property crime, drug offences and youth crime as reported by various police forces in 2016.

The rankings listed Langford with a crime severity index (CSI) of 59 – the same as Toronto – with View Royal at 45 and Colwood at 36.

Langford came in at 123 on the list of Canada’s most dangerous places, followed by Toronto at 124. View Royal was ranked 162, followed by Colwood at 191.

By comparison, North Saanich was the least most dangerous place to live in the province, hitting the list in the bottom five of the national comparison with a CSI of 23. Sooke ranked 112, with a CSI of 64.

The national average was 70.96.

The least dangerous place to live in Canada is the Kennabecasis area of New Brunswick, with a CSI of 16. Williams Lake was the most dangerous in B.C., with a CSI of 353, and ranked forth overall.

The Macleans report found that overall crime stats in Canada are at the second lowest rate since 1998, according to Statistics Canada.

Highlands and Metchosin were not included in the study because their populations have not topped more than 10,000, according the most recent stats.


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editor@goldstreamgazette.com