Deer LakeBurnaby

TownGrade

#1,025 of 2,556

It is a neighbourhood of 8,417 residents in Burnaby. It is one of 18 neighbourhoods of Burnaby.

6 places within 19 kmMap →

Photo: Kenny Louie from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY 2.0

Population

8,417

people, Census 2021

Median age

45.8

years · British Columbia’s towns: 48

Postsecondary

60%

of residents 15 and over hold a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree · Canadian towns: 56%

Walk, cycle, transit

18%

walk, cycle or take transit to work · Canadian towns: 8%

Is Deer Lake a good place to live?

A strong record with one exception. Taken together, its subjects give Deer Lake a B overall, better than nearly three fifths of Canadian towns. The ranking puts it #49 of 250 in British Columbia. Its strongest subject is health (A). Prices are high against local incomes (D−). Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for safety, B− for jobs & income and B for hazard risk.

Rents here are the metro area's average, shared by every town and neighbourhood in it. Safety less sure: this is the whole city's figure, because the city doesn't publish open neighbourhood crime rates. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.

StrongestAWalkability AHealth ASchoolsWeakestD⁻Cost of living

How Deer Lake grades

Each subject compares Deer Lake with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.

How grading works

Cost of livingGraded on home prices against local incomesD⁻Open →WalkabilityAmong the easiest places to get around without a carAOpen →HealthAmong the best of the towns comparedAOpen →SchoolsBased on how pupils do in exams and testsAOpen →Hazard riskBased on earthquake losses and radon in homes; a high wildfire risk can pull it downBOpen →SafetyClose to the middle of the towns comparedC⁺Open →Jobs & incomeGraded on incomes, poverty and employmentB⁻Open →

How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →

What makes Deer Lake stand out

The 3 things Deer Lake does most differently from other towns.

Picked automatically from the data

Home value ÷ household income

Housing

12.8 times household income

The middle of Canadian towns: 4.7 times

Median owner’s estimate $1,300,000, Census 2021; income for 2020.

Cost of living

Behind 99%

of Canadian towns on cost of living

Its cost of living grade: D−.

Walk, cycle or transit to work

Getting around

18% walk, cycle or take transit

Against 8% in the median of Canadian towns

Statistics Canada, Census 2021

The data

Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Deer Lake.

HousingCost of living D⁻

Measured against local pay, Deer Lake costs more to live in than almost every Canadian town

$1,300,000median home value, 2021D⁻Cost of living Grade

23% of households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, above British Columbia’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%) alike. Home ownership covers 67% of households.

What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census

Deer Lake$1,300,000

British Columbia$720,000

Canadian towns$406,000

Census 2021	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Rent as a share of income	28%	24%	20%
Households owning their home	67%	76%	74%
Households spending 30%+ on shelter	23%	21%	18%

$2,364

monthly rent for a two-bedroom

Full pageDeer Lake’s cost of living pageOpen the full Cost of living page

Cost of living12.8 times household income · The median owner’s estimate, $1,300,000, against the median household income Renting$2,364 a month · A two-bedroom apartment, CMHC’s survey Owners and renters67% own their home

Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · Values come from owners at the 2021 census and incomes from 2020, so they predate the later rise in rates. · Rent as a share of income and monthly rent for a two-bedroom: the Vancouver metro area

HealthHealth A

For health, Deer Lake is ahead of 89% of Canadian towns

48%very good or excellent healthAHealth Grade

The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 84.4, with women at 86.6 and men at 82.1. Smokers make up 7.5% of the region’s adults, lower than both British Columbia’s towns (9%) and Canadian towns (12%), and about as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across British Columbia, 48% against 50%. For Deer Lake itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 2.3 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical.

Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised

Deer Lake48%

British Columbia’s towns50%

Canadian towns52%

Health	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Life expectancy at birth	84.4	81.0	81.5
Smokers	7.5%	9%	12%
Very good or excellent health	48%	50%	52%
Chronic conditions (average share)	15%	15%	17%

84.4

years of life expectancy, 2022/2024

2.3 km

from homes to a hospital, on average

7.5%

of adults smoke, age-standardised

0.8 km

from homes to a pharmacy, on average

Full pageDeer Lake’s health pageOpen the full Health page

Health survey48% very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised Getting care2.3 km to a hospital · A pharmacy 0.8 km away on average The wider areaLife expectancy: women 86.6, men 82.1 Conditions and habits15% with chronic conditions · adults, age-standardised

Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · Health survey and life expectancy published for the Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area, not by town

SchoolsSchools A

Of Deer Lake’s 49 tested schools, 25 sit above the middle in British Columbia and 8 below

61schools within 3 kmASchools Grade

Within 3 km of Deer Lake are 47 elementary schools, 6 secondary schools and 8 alternative or adult schools. The schools around it answer to 2 boards, about level with British Columbia’s towns (2) and below Canadian towns (3).

School	Level	Students	System
Burnaby Central Secondary Fourth fifth in British ColumbiaIn Deer LakeElementary	Elementary	–	English public
Moscrop Secondary Second fifth in British ColumbiaNearest secondary school, 0.1 kmSecondary	Secondary	–	English public
Holy Cross Elementary School IndependentResults in the top fifth in British ColumbiaElementary	Elementary	–	Independent

See all 61 schools →

Schools by system · Schools within 3 km

English public52

Independent9

Schools within 3 km	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
School boards	2	2	3

0.2 km

to the nearest secondary school

Full pageDeer Lake’s schools pageOpen the full Schools page

Results25 of 49 in the top two fifths · of the schools with results, placed against every school in British Columbia Every school61 schools within 3 km · 47 elementary schools, 6 secondary schools and 8 alternative or adult schools Language0 of 61 teach in French · 2% of schools in British Columbia The boards2 school boards · SD 41 Burnaby Questions“What schools are there in Deer Lake?”

Provincial school lists and results, 2025/26

Climate

Winters are mild in Deer Lake: January nights hold at 3.3°C, above British Columbia’s towns and Canadian towns

23.0°CJuly afternoons

Snowfall adds up to 37 cm a year, below British Columbia’s towns (51 cm) and Canadian towns (141 cm) alike. Expect July highs of around 23.0°C in Deer Lake. Snow peaks in December: 14 cm in a normal year. The most precipitation falls in November: 245 mm in a normal year.

Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020

Winter7.6°C

Spring14.1°C

Summer22.1°C

Autumn14.3°C

Normals, 1991–2020	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Days with frost a year	17	60	159
January night low	3.3°C	0.5°C	−13.5°C
Precipitation a year	1,537 mm	1,152 mm	883 mm
Snowfall a year	37 cm	51 cm	141 cm

37 cm

of snow a year

days with frost a year

142

days with precipitation a year

Full pageDeer Lake’s climate pageOpen the full Climate page

The yearJuly highs 23.0°C, January lows 3.3°C Rain and snow1,537 mm a year · Canadian towns: 883 mm Snow37 cm of snow a year Weather station11 km to the station · Vancouver (Harbour)

Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Vancouver (Harbour))

Natural hazardsHazard risk B

Earthquakes are Deer Lake’s biggest hazard: $0.36 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 12 times the norm

Lowwildfire bandBHazard risk Grade

Wildfire is rare near Deer Lake: 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.004% a year. The national flood inventory has no study of the town.

Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³

Deer Lake0%

British Columbia’s towns1.8%

Canadian towns6.6%

Hazards	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year	$0.36	$0.36	$0.030
Radon tests above the guideline	0%	1.8%	6.6%

$0.36

expected earthquake loss a year per $1,000 of buildings

Low

wildfire band

11 km

to the nearest land burned since 1986

Full pageDeer Lake’s flood & hazards pageOpen the full Flood & hazards page

Earthquakes$0.36 a year per $1,000 · Canadian towns: $0.030 WildfireLow wildfire band · 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 FloodNo flood study on record Radon0% of tests above the guideline Be readyAlerts, FireSmart and radon tests

NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Fraser North health region · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Burnaby

SafetySafety C⁺

Deer Lake is graded a C+ for safety

70Crime Severity Index

Measured across the Burnaby service area: Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000

The violent index for its police area came to 65, lower than both British Columbia’s towns (76) and Canadian towns (86). Its police area records 10.9 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across its police area, there are 35.9 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.

Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year

202374

202469

202569

2023–2025	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Violent Crime Severity Index	65	76	86
Property crime per 1,000	35.9	31	31.2

non-violent Crime Severity Index

15%

of incidents cleared, 2023–25

Full pageDeer Lake’s safety reportOpen the full Safety report

Safety70 Crime Severity Index · The index weighs each crime Deer Lake’s police recorded by how serious it is.Questions“Is Deer Lake safe?”

Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average

Who lives here

Visible minorities make up more of Deer Lake than of British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: 63%

45.8median age

People 65 and over make up 22% of the town. First Nations, Métis and Inuit people make up 0.8% of residents, below both British Columbia’s towns (5%) and Canadian towns (2.8%). Children under 15 make up 13% of residents.

Deer LakeBritish ColumbiaCanada

British ColumbiaCanada

Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021

22%

Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over

No certificate, diploma or degree13%

Postsecondary qualification60%

Women and men · all residents

Women make up 50.7% of Deer Lake

Here the census found 4,270 women and 4,155 men; across Canada the share of women is 50.9%.

Who lives in Deer Lake
	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Under 15	13%	14%	16%
15 to 64	65%	64%	64%
65+	22%	21%	19%
No certificate, diploma or degree	13%	13%	16%
Postsecondary qualification	60%	56%	56%

Full pageDeer Lake’s Who lives here pageOpen the full Who lives here page

Ages45.8 median age · 22% are 65 or over Households3,065 households English and French5% speak both · 0% speak French but not English

Statistics Canada, Census 2021; British Columbia and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+

Weather

In Deer Lake, November normally means 10°C afternoons and 5°C nights

10°Ca normal November afternoon

Expect around 3 cm of snow in November. The month after, December, normally sees 7°C afternoons and 3°C nights. Rain and snow over a typical November come to 245 mm. ECCC’s forecast for Vancouver is on the Weather page, hour by hour.

Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020

November10°C

December7°C

January7°C

February8°C

Season	High	Low	Rain and snow
Winter	8°C	3°C	554 mm
Spring	14°C	7°C	353 mm
Summer	22°C	14°C	158 mm
Autumn	14°C	9°C	473 mm

5°C

a normal November night

245 mm

of rain and snow in a normal November

Full pageDeer Lake’s weather pageOpen the full Weather page

Next 24 hoursTemperature and chance of rain, hour by hour The week aheadECCC’s days ahead, beside the normals The yearWarmest July, coldest December

ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Vancouver (Harbour)); the forecast is on the Weather page

Town hall

Wade Chang (Liberal Party of Canada) represents Deer Lake in Ottawa as MP for Burnaby Central

The Liberal Party of Canada has 20 of the 43 MPs elected in British Columbia.

Full pageDeer Lake’s town hall & politics pageOpen the full Town hall & politics page

Who runs itCity Provincial legislatureBurnaby Centre

Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada

Library & civic lifeCivic life grade B

Deer Lake has one public library, BCIT Library

Deer Lake is served by BCIT Library, the library of all of Burnaby, so the figures here are the city’s, for 299,682 people.

Full pageDeer Lake’s library & civic life pageOpen the full Library & civic life page

A year at the library5.1 visits per person served The libraries1 Libraries Places to belong1.2 charities per 1,000 residents

Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada

Outdoors

Within 10 km of Deer Lake: 21 public protected areas

2.9%of the land within 10 km protected

46 km separate the town from Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, its nearest national park. The closest provincial park is Mount Seymour Park, 6.1 km from the edge of town. The protected share of the 10 km around the town is 2.9%, between British Columbia’s towns (6.7%) and Canadian towns (2.3%). Within 5 km are 25 beaches; Trout Lake Beach is the nearest.

Protected land · of the land within 10 km

Deer Lake2.9%

British Columbia’s towns6.7%

Canadian towns2.3%

Outdoors	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Public protected areas within 10 km	21	14	4
Protected land within 10 km	2.9%	6.7%	2.3%

46 km

to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve

6.1 km

to Mount Seymour Park

beaches within 5 km

public protected areas within 10 km

Full pageDeer Lake’s outdoors pageOpen the full Outdoors page

Protected landof the land within 10 km Protected areas22 protected areas within 10 km · Say Nuth Khaw Yum Park [A.K.A. Indian Arm Park]National & provincial parks46 km to a national park · Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Footpaths & routes4 named routes · Central Valley Greenway

Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches

Work & commuteJobs & income B⁻

Households in Deer Lake earn more than those in 87% of Canadian towns

18%walk, cycle or take transit

A trip to work takes 30 min on average.

How working residents got to work · census 2021

Car or van79%

Public transit16%

Walk2%

Bicycle1%

Census 2021	Deer Lake	British Columbia	Canada
Average trip	30 min	26 min	26 min

$101,900

median household income, 2020

25%

worked from home, May 2021

40%

of commuters work inside the municipality

Full pageDeer Lake’s work & commute pageOpen the full Work & commute page

Unemployment8.9% unemployed · Of the labour force · Canadian towns: 9.9%Getting to work18% walk, cycle or take transit

Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · Counted in May 2021, under pandemic rules: fewer commutes and more people between jobs than in a normal year.

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Deer Lake

15pages on Deer Lake

The big questions

SafetyC⁺Crime Severity Index 70 Housing & costD⁻Homes 12.8 × income Property pricesSchoolsA61 schools within 3 km HealthALife expectancy 84.4 in its region Work & commuteB⁻56% of adults in work Natural hazardsBWildfire band: low

Out and about

Outdoors2.9% of the land within 10 km protected AttractionsClimateJuly afternoons around 23°C WeatherECCC’s forecast, beside the normals

The story

Who lives hereMedian age 45.8 HistoryTown hallFamous people

Nearby attractions

Burnaby Art Gallery and 20 more in and around Deer Lake

A first look at Deer Lake’s museums, historic sites and days out, and a few just outside town.

All attractions →

Art galleryBurnaby Art Galleryin town

Art galleryFairacres Mansionin town

Theme parkPlayland3.9 km outside town, to the north

Theme parkBurnaby Village Museum100 m outside town, to the southeast

GardenCentral Park2 km outside town, to the west

AttractionWooden Roller Coaster3.8 km outside town, to the north

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (6)

Burnaby Art Gallery: Xiao23, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Fairacres Mansion: Xiao23, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Playland: ThePointblank, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Burnaby Village Museum: Xiao23, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Central Park: Jeff Hitchcock from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Wooden Roller Coaster: Ruth Hartnup, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

About Deer Lake

Neighbourhood in Burnaby

Where Deer Lake begins and ends inside Burnaby is TownRatings’s line, traced along census dissemination areas and named after the city’s map or OpenStreetMap.

Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.

Population: 8,417 (people, 2021 estimate)
Province or territory: British Columbia
City: Burnaby
Census subdivision: 5915025

Deer Lake’s neighbours

The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada

HoldomGarden VillageBrentwoodBroadviewBainbridgeBuckingham HeightsDeer Lake

How the neighbours grade

Town	People	km	Overall	Cost	Safety	Health
Deer Lake	8,417	—	B	D⁻	C⁺	A
Holdom	7,976	2	B	D⁻	C⁺	A
Garden Village	6,492	2.2	B	D⁻	C⁺	A
Brentwood	22,170	2.3	B⁺	D⁻	C⁺	A
Broadview	8,008	2.5	B	D⁻	C⁺	A
Bainbridge	3,015	2.6	B⁻	D⁻	C⁺	A
Buckingham Heights	8,794	2.7	B⁻	D⁻	C⁺	A

People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.

Questions about Deer Lake

Is Deer Lake a young town or an old one?

The median resident is 45.8 years old, against 45.2 for the median of Canadian towns. 13% are under 15 and 22% are 65 or over.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. 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).