Lions Bay records less crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
Violence accounts for an index of 16.3 and other offences for 27.9, against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8. Per 1,000 residents a year, 5.1 violent incidents and 11.9 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Measured on crime the police covering Lions Bay reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of A+. Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Bowen Island detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Lions Bay
Under the British Columbia norm
Set among British Columbia’s towns, whose median is 83.2, Lions Bay scores 24.4. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Lions Bay’s index splits into violent crime, 16.3 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 27.9 against 62.8. By type ↓
Police clear less here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Lions Bay’s police clear 15%, 36% of violent crime and 10% of the rest. Questions ↓
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 Lions Bay’s grade
How sure: Not as firm as most grades. Its figures come from the nearest detachment, 13 km off, which covers its own area rather than Lions Bay.
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.
The detachment closest to Lions Bay, 4,500 residents, recorded about 23 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 54 a year and other violations 36 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
What police record in Lions Bay, by type
Fraud sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 4.7 | 1 | — |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11.3 | 2.5 | 15% |
| Mischief | 17 | 3.7 | 10% |
| Weapons violations | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Impaired driving | 5 | 1.1 | 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.
Lions Bay’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (29.9) and 2025 the trough (20.9). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lions Bay | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20.9 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 29.9 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 22.4 | 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 Lions Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Lions Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lions Bay | 1,375 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| Bowen Island | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| West Vancouver | 47,929 | 57.2 | 59.8 | B |
| Capilano 5 | 3,376 | — | — | — |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast | 2,691 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Lions Bay. A neighbour policed by the same service carries the same figure, so it isn’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- What the index measures. 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 small police area. About 4,501 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in Lions Bay
Is Lions Bay safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Lions Bay comes to 24.4. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 5.1 violent incidents and 11.9 property crimes. Set that beside 67.2, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What is the most common crime in Lions Bay?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 5, fraud at 4.1 and mischief at 3.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lions Bay?
No: the index fell 7%, from 22.4 in 2023 to 20.9 in 2025. The police area is small or partly reported, so treat the change with care.
How much of Lions Bay’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 15%: 36% for violent crime and 10% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lions Bay 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).