Photo: Murray Foubister · CC BY-SA 2.0For recorded crime, Golden sits in the middle of Canadian towns
British Columbia’s towns sit around 83.2, midway up their range. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 65.5 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Golden grades B− for safety overall (#69 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 10.0 violent incidents and 23.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2.
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. Measured across the Golden/Field detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Golden
Visitors count, residents divide
Golden draws far more visitors than it has residents, and the crime they are part of is divided by residents alone, so its rates run high for the people who live there. How to read it ↓
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Golden moved from 74.5 to 44.9, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Golden’s index splits into violent crime, 44.5 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 74.4 against 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Golden is 23rd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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.
What’s behind Golden’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: #69 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,018 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.
In Golden, down 40% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (77.1) and 2025 the trough (44.9). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Golden | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 44.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 77.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 74.5 | 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 Golden, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Golden, by type
Motor vehicle theft 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 | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 16.7 | 2.1 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 1.2 | 55% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14.3 | 1.8 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.7 | 1.1 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 60.7 | 7.5 | 8% |
| Mischief | 40 | 5 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 17.7 | 2.2 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.3 | 0.9 | 55% |
| Drug violations | 6 | 0.7 | 67% |
| Impaired driving | 17 | 2.1 | 47% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
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.
By its index, Golden stands 23rd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 4,309 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Lantzville British Columbia | 4,276 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Rossland British Columbia | 4,355 | 63.8 | 58.3 | B− |
| 21 | Vulcan County Alberta | 4,465 | 64.3 | 54 | B− |
| 22 | Richmond County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 4,305 | 65.2 | 90.1 | B− |
| 23 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| 24 | Caraquet New Brunswick | 4,572 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
| 25 | Grand Forks British Columbia | 4,308 | 67.5 | 73.9 | B− |
| 26 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| 27 | Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 4,279 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Golden in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
8,110 residents, about 81 violent incidents a year: the police area Golden belongs to, 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 190 a year and other violations 100 (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 Golden
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden | 4,433 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap (5 km) | 3,672 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| Electoral Area G, East Kootenay (88 km) | 1,952 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| Revelstoke (92 km) | 9,464 | 75.8 | 69 | C+ |
| Radium Hot Springs (97 km) | 1,489 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| Banff (98 km) | 11,402 | 63 | 74.8 | B− |
Of 4 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under Golden. Just 98.4 km away, Banff comes to 63, against 65.5. The comparison skips one neighbour reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 5–98 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Golden.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “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 Golden is one part.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Golden
Is Golden safe?
Its police recorded 10 violent incidents and 23.8 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Golden a Crime Severity Index of 65.5. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Golden?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 7.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then theft under $5,000 (7.5) and mischief (5).
Is crime going up in Golden?
It went down 40% between 2023 and 2025, from 74.5 to 44.9.
How much of Golden’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 24% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 54% of violent crime and 16% 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 Golden 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).