Photo: outofthought · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Country sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Overall, Lake Country grades B− for safety (#73 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Both towns on its borders with figures record more crime per resident. The yearly rates were 10.9 violent incidents and 21.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 67.1 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 66 for the typical Canadian 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.
What stands out about safety in Lake Country
Heavier on property and other crime
Violent crime scores 59.9 on Lake Country’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 70.6 against 56. By type ↓
Lighter than in 2023
From 73.5 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025: that is Lake Country’s index, against 69.5 and 60 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
A low clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 19% of crime in Lake Country ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 28% of violent crime and 16% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Lake Country stands 24th, the lowest first. 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 sits behind Lake Country’s B−
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: #73 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,144 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Lake Country’s index fell 19% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 73.5 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 59.2 in 2025. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lake Country | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 68.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 73.5 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Lake Country, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Lake Country’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Lake Country runs highest on mischief (4.5 per 1,000 against 3.7). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 0.3 | 35% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 32.3 | 1.8 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 24.3 | 1.4 | 34% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 29.3 | 1.7 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.7 | 0.4 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 125.3 | 7.2 | 17% |
| Mischief | 78.7 | 4.5 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 32 | 1.8 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 15.7 | 0.9 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 12 | 0.7 | 58% |
| Impaired driving | 52 | 3 | 87% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 11.7 | 0.7 | 32% |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Lake Country is 24th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 34.7 | 33.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Comox British Columbia | 15,884 | 40.6 | 39.2 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 21 | L'Ancienne-Lorette Quebec | 17,876 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| 22 | Strathmore Alberta | 16,416 | 66.8 | 78.9 | B− |
| 23 | Sturgeon Falls Ontario | 16,682 | 66.8 | 82.7 | B− |
| 24 | Lake Country British Columbia | 17,637 | 67.1 | 59.9 | B− |
| 25 | Saint-Charles-Borromée Quebec | 16,904 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 26 | Cowansville Quebec | 17,269 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 27 | Greater Napanee Ontario | 18,016 | 73.9 | 103.7 | C+ |
| 28 | Sooke British Columbia | 17,248 | 81.4 | 79.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | 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 Lake Country in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Lake Country recorded about 190 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.
Property crime adds about 380 a year and other violations 250 (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 Lake Country
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Country | 17,637 | 67.1 | 59.9 | B− |
| Duck Lake 7 | 2,091 | — | — | — |
| Central Okanagan West | 3,298 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| Central Okanagan | 4,784 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
Lake Country has the lowest index of the places around it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. 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.
- How serious, not how safe. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in Lake Country
Is Lake Country safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 67.1 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: that is where Lake Country stands, with 10.9 violent and 21.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Lake Country?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 8.6, theft under $5,000 at 7.2 and fraud at 4.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lake Country?
It went down 19% between 2023 and 2025, from 73.5 to 59.2.
How much of Lake Country’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 19% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 28% of violent crime and 16% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Lake Country alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).