Photo: Hameltion · CC BY-SA 4.0Bowen Island records less crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
Split in two, the index gives 16.3 for violence and 27.9 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). The local count comes to 5.1 violent incidents and 11.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. A Safety Grade of A+ follows from crime the police covering Bowen Island reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #1 of 251 in British Columbia. Its 4 neighbours with figures all record more crime per resident.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Bowen Island detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Bowen Island
Lighter than British Columbia’s middle
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Bowen Island scores 24.4. Towns its size ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Bowen Island’s two halves part ways: 16.3 for violence (typical 85.7) and 27.9 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Bowen Island is 1st of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
Police cleared 15% of Bowen Island’s crime, weighted by seriousness (36% of violent crime, 10% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Bowen Island’s grade
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #1 of 251 in British Columbia and #29 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Bowen Island’s crime by kind
Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 4.7 | 1 | — |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11.3 | 2.5 | 15% |
| Mischief | 17 | 3.7 | 10% |
| Weapons violations | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Impaired driving | 5 | 1.1 | 66% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Bowen Island is 1st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| 2 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 3 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 30.8 | 39.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Dutton Ontario | 4,686 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Rossland British Columbia | 4,355 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Sparwood British Columbia | 4,486 | 79.7 | 121.6 | C |
| 30 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 4,540 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | D− |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Bowen Island in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 23 violent incidents a year across the police area of 4,500 residents that includes Bowen Island, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Property crime adds about 54 a year and other violations 36 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
The index in Bowen Island, each year
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 29.9, with 2025 the lightest at 20.9. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bowen Island | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 29.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 22.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Bowen Island, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bowen Island
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast | 2,691 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| Gibsons | 5,090 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| West Vancouver | 47,929 | 57.2 | 59.8 | B |
| Lions Bay | 1,375 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast | 4,279 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver | 22,031 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
Bowen Island has the lowest index of the places around it. The table leaves out 2 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- How serious, not how safe. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Read with care. With roughly 4,501 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Bowen Island together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Bowen Island
Is Bowen Island safe?
The short answer is an index of 24.4 for Bowen Island (2023–2025), built from 5.1 violent incidents and 11.9 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Bowen Island?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 5, fraud at 4.1 and mischief at 3.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Bowen Island?
The reverse: 22.4 in 2023 came down to 20.9 by 2025, 7% lower. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Bowen Island’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 15% of crime (36% of violent crime, 10% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Bowen Island together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).