Photo: Zacharycmango · CC BY-SA 4.0Burnaby records less violent crime than the typical Canadian town its size, but more of everything else
Its 6 neighbours with figures all record more crime per resident. Year on year, 10.9 violent incidents and 35.9 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. Even so, the index fell from 74.2 in 2023 to 68.7 in 2025. Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 70.5 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 60.3.
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.
What stands out about safety in Burnaby
Less crime solved
Police cleared 15% of Burnaby’s crime, weighted by seriousness (27% of violent crime, 11% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
Theft under $5,000: high for a town its size
Burnaby records 21.3 incidents of theft under $5,000 per 1,000 residents a year, against 11.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Burnaby’s two halves part ways: 64.6 for violence (typical 75.2) and 73.4 for the rest (typical 54.2). By type ↓
Much like British Columbia’s towns
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Burnaby, 70.5. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Before the grade: Burnaby’s figures
Letters come later for Canada; for now the page sets out the figures as Statistics Canada published them.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Burnaby’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Burnaby runs highest on theft under $5,000 (21.3 per 1,000 against 11.5), break and enter (2.8 per 1,000 against 2.2) and mischief (4.7 per 1,000 against 3.8). Sexual assault and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 70.7 | 0.2 | 24% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 33.3 | 0.1 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 12 | 0.04 | 39% |
| Robbery | 121.7 | 0.4 | 24% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 15 | 0.05 | 73% |
| Other violent violations | 31.3 | 0.1 | 22% |
| Breaking and entering | 805 | 2.8 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 49.3 | 0.2 | 33% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 291.7 | 1 | 3% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 275.3 | 0.9 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 6,244.7 | 21.3 | 10% |
| Mischief | 1,370.7 | 4.7 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 146.3 | 0.5 | 40% |
| Administration of justice violations | 323 | 1.1 | 87% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 183.7 | 0.6 | 28% |
| Drug violations | 209.7 | 0.7 | 46% |
| Impaired driving | 267.7 | 0.9 | 77% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 214.3 | 0.7 | 12% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Burnaby, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 74.2, and its lowest 2024, at 68.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Burnaby | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 68.7 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 68.5 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 74.2 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Burnaby, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Burnaby’s police: about 3,190 violent incidents a year over 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 10,500 a year and other violations 4,020 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Burnaby
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnaby | 299,682 | 70.5 | 64.6 | — |
| Deer Lake | 8,417 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
| Buckingham Heights | 8,794 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
| Garden Village | 6,492 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
| Holdom | 7,976 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
| Metrotown | 36,594 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
| Bainbridge | 3,015 | 70.5 | 64.6 | C+ |
The places around Burnaby all score higher on the index.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- The index’s scale. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Burnaby
Is Burnaby safe?
Burnaby measures 70.5 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 10.9 violent incidents and 35.9 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Burnaby?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 21.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (10.9) and assault (5.2).
Is crime going up in Burnaby?
It went down 7% between 2023 and 2025, from 74.2 to 68.7.
How much of Burnaby’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 15%: 27% for violent crime and 11% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Burnaby and nowhere else.
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). 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).