Photo: Britcruise · CC BY-SA 3.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Burns Lake than in 90% of Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 195.5 and 121.4. Out of every 1,000 residents, 41.8 violent incidents and 47.6 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Scored on crime the police covering Burns Lake reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on D for safety.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Burns Lake detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Burns Lake
Mischief: high for a town its size
Burns Lake records 32.3 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Higher than most of British Columbia
Burns Lake’s index of 141.7 compares with 83.2 for the typical town in British Columbia. Towns its size ↓
More severe than in 2023
From 135.2 in 2023 to 162.8 in 2025: that is Burns Lake’s index, against 70.6 and 62.9 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Burns Lake’s D
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in Burns Lake, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Burns Lake runs highest on mischief (32.3 per 1,000 against 4.2), drug offences (4.2 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (22.6 per 1,000 against 6.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9 | 1.5 | 44% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12 | 2 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 11 | 1.9 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 37.7 | 6.4 | 17% |
| Mischief | 191.3 | 32.3 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.9 | 57% |
| Administration of justice violations | 51.3 | 8.7 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14.7 | 2.5 | 54% |
| Drug violations | 25 | 4.2 | 20% |
| Impaired driving | 29.3 | 5 | 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 people or more.
Burns Lake’s index rose 20% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2025, the last year shown, came out highest at 162.8, and 2024 lowest at 127.1. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Burns Lake | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 162.8 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 127.1 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 135.2 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Burns Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
The police area Burns Lake is part of, 5,940 residents, recorded about 250 violent incidents a year (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.
Add about 280 property crimes and 430 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Burns Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burns Lake | 2,007 | 141.7 | 195.5 | D |
| Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako (3 km) | 1,769 | 141.7 | 195.5 | D |
| Electoral Area E, Bulkley-Nechako (28 km) | 1,631 | 141.7 | 195.5 | D |
| Houston (61 km) | 3,114 | 162 | 219.6 | D |
| Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako (71 km) | 1,772 | 116.2 | 177.5 | C− |
1 of the 2 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Burns Lake. Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako, 70.7 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 116.2 to 141.7. Sharing its police with 2 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Burns Lake with figures are 3–71 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Town and surroundings together. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Burns Lake is one part.
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Burns Lake
Is Burns Lake safe?
Burns Lake scores 141.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 41.8 violent incidents and 47.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Burns Lake?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 61.2, mischief at 32.3 and assault at 22.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Burns Lake?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 20%, to 162.8 from 135.2.
How much of Burns Lake’s crime do police solve?
About 34% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 49% of violent and 23% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Burns Lake 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).