Photo: SoftwareSimian · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Pemberton records less crime than two in three Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 61.7 and its non-violent half to 50, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. A Safety Grade of B+ follows from crime the police covering Pemberton reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #45 of 251 in British Columbia. Per 1,000 residents a year, 10.1 violent incidents and 15.1 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Steady over the three years, the index read 52.1 in 2023 and 50.8 in 2025.
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. Shared with the rest of the Pemberton detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Pemberton
Lighter than British Columbia’s middle
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Pemberton, 53. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Pemberton comes 12th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Pemberton’s police clear 25%, 41% of violent crime and 20% 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.
Inside Pemberton’s B+ for safety
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: #45 of 251 in British Columbia and #639 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.
What police record in Pemberton, by type
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 | 0.06 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 5 | 0.9 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.3 | 0.9 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 23 | 3.9 | 10% |
| Mischief | 31.7 | 5.4 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 8 | 1.4 | 59% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8 | 1.4 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 6.7 | 1.1 | 40% |
| Impaired driving | 28.7 | 4.9 | 55% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Pemberton is 12th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Saint-Gilles Quebec | 3,521 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 10 | Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby Quebec | 3,545 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 11 | Ascot Corner Quebec | 3,725 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| 12 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 53 | 61.7 | B+ |
| 13 | Piedmont Quebec | 3,667 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| 14 | Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez Quebec | 3,639 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 15 | Beausejour Manitoba | 3,565 | 58.8 | 39.1 | B |
| 16 | Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap British Columbia | 3,672 | 65.5 | 44.5 | B− |
| 17 | Electoral Area D (Rural Grand Forks), Kootenay Boundary British Columbia | 3,570 | 67.5 | 73.9 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Electoral Area L (Grasslands), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 3,543 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 3,643 | 126.5 | 178.5 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | 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 Pemberton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 59 violent incidents a year in the 5,650-resident police area around Pemberton, 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.
And about 88 property crimes, plus 130 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Pemberton, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 56.1 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 50.8 in 2025. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Pemberton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 56.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 52.1 | 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 Pemberton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Pemberton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pemberton | 3,620 | 53 | 61.7 | B+ |
| Electoral Area C, Squamish-Lillooet (1 km) | 2,027 | 53 | 61.7 | B+ |
| Whistler (26 km) | 15,090 | 83.8 | 82.3 | C |
| Squamish (70 km) | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| Electoral Area D, Squamish-Lillooet (71 km) | 1,055 | 56.2 | 48.4 | B |
| Lillooet (74 km) | 2,065 | 130 | 120.5 | D |
The places around Pemberton all score higher on the index. One neighbour reports through the same police, so its figure is this one and it isn’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Pemberton with figures are 1–74 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Shared with the countryside. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Pemberton together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Pemberton
Is Pemberton safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Pemberton scores 53 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 10.1 violent and 15.1 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Pemberton?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (14.9 per 1,000 residents a year); Criminal Code traffic offences, at 5.4, and mischief, at 5.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Pemberton?
Not much: the index went from 52.1 in 2023 to 50.8 in 2025.
How much of Pemberton’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 25%: 41% for violent crime and 20% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Pemberton 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).