Kelowna the 5th most burgled city in Canada

This is a list you don't want to be on.

Kelowna has popped up on a home-robbery list as the city with the fifth most burglaries in Canada.

The break-and-enter list was compiled by Handy Bros. (a home comfort contractor in southwestern Ontario) with information from Statistics Canada based on the number of home burglaries per 100,000 population.

Kelowna's figure is 709 home burglaries per 100,000 population.

Now, that number translates to 0.7% of Kelowna residents being the victim of a home break-in annually.

0.7 is not a high percentage, but it is a lot when you consider the people in all those households have been violated by property crime, there's damage and mess to the house, loss of property, all the follow up police reports and insurance hassles as well as being frightened that thieves may be back.

Home burglaries can be a smash-and-grab with a criminal opportunist breaking in and stealing valuables like cash, jewelry and electronics.

Or, it can be more sophisticated with a crook taking what they want as well as grabbing financial papers to sell on to other criminals who steal your identity to use your credit and debit cards, drain your bank accounts and get new credit cards and loans in your name.

"While these findings may be alarming for those residing in the top 10 cities, it's imperative to know the risks we face where we live," said a spokesperson from Handy Bros.

"People living in these cities may feel it necessary to upgrade their home security measures and to ensure their insurance can protect them, their assets and their belongings."

In 2022, there were 132,897 break and enters in Canada, a 5.5% increase from 2021.

The spike came after a few years of declines.

While Kelowna's rate of break-and-enters is high, it's not as high as Winnipeg, Lethbridge, Saskatoon and Regina, which respectively took the top four spots on the list.

Full list here: