Photo: The High Fin Sperm Whale · CC BY-SA 3.0For recorded crime, Cultus Lake sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 71.6 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. Its two neighbours with figures both record more crime per resident. Cultus Lake’s overall Safety Grade is C+ (#83 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Behind the grade sit 12.6 violent incidents and 31.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Columbia Valley detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Cultus Lake
Lighter than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Cultus Lake moved from 79.9 to 55.4, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Cultus Lake records 10.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Cultus Lake’s two halves part ways: 60.2 for violence (typical 85.7) and 76.7 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
A low clearance rate
Police cleared 19% of Cultus Lake’s crime, weighted by seriousness (32% of violent crime, 14% 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.
The C+ for Cultus Lake, and how it is built
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: #83 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,398 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Cultus Lake’s index dropped 31%
Crime Severity Index
From 79.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 55.4 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cultus Lake | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 79.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 79.9 | 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 Cultus Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Cultus Lake’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Cultus Lake runs highest on mischief (10.2 per 1,000 against 4.9). 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 | 5.7 | 0.4 | 18% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 21 | 1.6 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 14 | 1.1 | 31% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 32.7 | 2.5 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 12 | 0.9 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 137.7 | 10.7 | 12% |
| Mischief | 131.3 | 10.2 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 24.3 | 1.9 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 12.7 | 1 | 31% |
| Drug violations | 10.3 | 0.8 | 17% |
| Impaired driving | 60.3 | 4.7 | 36% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.2 | — |
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.
Cultus Lake comes 18th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rivière-Beaudette Quebec | 2,806 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 2,758 | 42.4 | 50.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Lacolle Quebec | 2,806 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| 16 | Sainte-Luce Quebec | 2,808 | 67.8 | 133.2 | B− |
| 17 | Atikokan Ontario | 2,796 | 68.9 | 109.7 | B− |
| 18 | Cultus Lake British Columbia | 2,773 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| 19 | Wickham Quebec | 2,745 | 72.2 | 124.7 | C+ |
| 20 | Ferme-Neuve Quebec | 2,816 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 21 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 73.3 | 54.3 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 2,761 | 87 | 109.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 92.7 | 168.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 117.4 | 205.8 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 805.8 | 2,056.5 | 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 Cultus Lake in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 160 violent incidents a year across the police area of 13,100 residents that includes Cultus Lake, 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 410 property crimes and 210 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 Cultus Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultus Lake | 2,773 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| Tzeachten 13 | 4,899 | — | — | — |
| Chilliwack | 105,520 | 142.2 | 158.4 | D |
| Skowkale | 1,114 | — | — | — |
| Electoral Area E, Fraser Valley | 1,748 | 164.4 | 219.2 | D |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Cultus Lake.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- Severity, weighed. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Cultus Lake is one part.
Questions about safety in Cultus Lake
Is Cultus Lake safe?
Its police recorded 12.6 violent incidents and 31.9 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Cultus Lake a Crime Severity Index of 71.6. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Cultus Lake?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 10.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (10.2) and other Criminal Code offences (9.9).
Is crime going up in Cultus Lake?
Down 31%: 79.9 in 2023, 55.4 in 2025.
How much of Cultus Lake’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 19% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 32% of violent crime and 14% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Cultus Lake and everywhere else it polices.
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).