Photo: James O'Brien · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake Cowichan sees more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 94.9 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Scored on crime the police covering Lake Cowichan reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C− for safety: #136 of 251 in British Columbia. The local count comes to 19.6 violent incidents and 28.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Across British Columbia’s towns, the middle index is 83.2.
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 Lake Cowichan detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Lake Cowichan
Mischief: high for a town its size
Lake Cowichan records 13.3 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 ↓
Lighter than in 2023
Lake Cowichan’s index went from 120 in 2023 to 54.2 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Lake Cowichan stands 33rd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
The violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Lake Cowichan’s two halves part ways: 158.7 for violence (typical 85.7) and 70.2 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
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 Lake Cowichan’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: #136 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,836 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.
Year by year in Lake Cowichan: down 55%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 120 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 54.2. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lake Cowichan | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 54.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 110.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 120 | 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 Lake Cowichan, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Lake Cowichan’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Lake Cowichan runs highest on mischief (13.3 per 1,000 against 4.9), sexual assault (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (10 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 | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 16.7 | 2.3 | 30% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9 | 1.2 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 51.3 | 7.1 | 16% |
| Mischief | 96.3 | 13.3 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 28 | 3.8 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.5 | 63% |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 1.3 | 40% |
| Impaired driving | 19.7 | 2.7 | 75% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
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, Lake Cowichan stands 33rd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Electoral Area C, Nanaimo British Columbia | 3,733 | 58.9 | 58.4 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 3,672 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George British Columbia | 3,811 | 67.3 | 98.3 | B− |
| 19 | Electoral Area A, Fraser-Fort George British Columbia | 3,764 | 67.3 | 98.3 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 3,806 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 31 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 32 | Maniwaki Quebec | 3,803 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| 33 | Lake Cowichan British Columbia | 3,757 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| 34 | Flagstaff County Alberta | 3,724 | 104.5 | 69.4 | C− |
| 35 | Cardston Alberta | 3,863 | 108 | 123.7 | C− |
| 36 | Saint-Michel Quebec | 3,672 | 116.5 | 80.3 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cowichan Bay British Columbia | 3,713 | 131.7 | 149.7 | 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 Cowichan in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 140 violent incidents a year in the 7,330-resident police area around Lake Cowichan, 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 200 property crimes and 320 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 Lake Cowichan
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Cowichan | 3,757 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| Electoral Area F, Cowichan Valley | 1,837 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
| Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley | 1,521 | 94.9 | 158.7 | C− |
2 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- Shared with the countryside. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Lake Cowichan is one part.
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Lake Cowichan
Is Lake Cowichan safe?
Police-reported crime in Lake Cowichan scores 94.9 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 19.6 violent incidents and 28.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Lake Cowichan?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 14, mischief at 13.3 and assault at 10, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lake Cowichan?
Down 55%: 120 in 2023, 54.2 in 2025.
How much of Lake Cowichan’s crime do police solve?
36%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 44% and non-violent crime at 27%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lake Cowichan 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).