Photo: The original uploader was Damieng at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime in Squamish sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
The index fell from 77.9 in 2023 to 64.8 in 2025. Taking everything together, Squamish scores C+ (#80 of 251 in British Columbia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, measured on crime its police reported between 2023 and 2025. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 69.7 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 66 for the typical Canadian town its size. Its police logs show 13.9 violent incidents and 33.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.0 and 30.5.
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 Squamish
Mischief: high for a town its size
Squamish records 10.1 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Squamish scores 62.3 for violence and 73.3 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 89.4 and 56. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Squamish comes 31st, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 17% for Squamish (30% violent, 13% non-violent), beside 33% for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. 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 Squamish’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: #80 of 251 in British Columbia and #1,358 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.
Crime in Squamish, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Squamish runs highest on mischief (10.1 per 1,000 against 3.7) and fraud (6.2 per 1,000 against 5.1). Assault and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7 | 0.3 | 29% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.2 | 34% |
| Breaking and entering | 57.3 | 2 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 12.7 | 0.5 | 39% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 30 | 1.1 | 3% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 30.7 | 1.1 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 335.7 | 12 | 12% |
| Mischief | 283.3 | 10.1 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 11 | 0.4 | 36% |
| Administration of justice violations | 65 | 2.3 | 53% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 25.7 | 0.9 | 23% |
| Drug violations | 23.3 | 0.8 | 20% |
| Impaired driving | 112.3 | 4 | 80% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.05 | — |
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.
Squamish, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 77.9, and its lowest 2025, at 64.8. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Squamish | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 64.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 66.5 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 77.9 | 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 Squamish, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Squamish is 31st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oro-Medonte Ontario | 24,681 | 27 | 31.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Beamsville Ontario | 28,356 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 29 | Collingwood Ontario | 28,366 | 57.8 | 66.4 | B |
| 30 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 31 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| 32 | Elmira Ontario | 31,382 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 33 | Kingston Nova Scotia | 24,574 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 34 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 78.4 | 82.7 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 38 | White Rock British Columbia | 25,057 | 82.6 | 87.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Sept-Îles Quebec | 24,483 | 103.9 | 209.6 | C− |
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 Squamish in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 390 violent incidents a year reached Squamish’s police, 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 930 a year and other violations 530 (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 Squamish
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squamish | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| Electoral Area D, Squamish-Lillooet (4 km) | 1,055 | 56.2 | 48.4 | B |
| Lions Bay (31 km) | 1,375 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast (41 km) | 2,691 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| Bowen Island (43 km) | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| West Vancouver (43 km) | 47,929 | 57.2 | 59.8 | B |
4 of the 5 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Squamish. Electoral Area D, Squamish-Lillooet, 4.1 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 56.2 to 69.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Squamish has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 4–43 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Squamish
Is Squamish safe?
The short answer is an index of 69.7 for Squamish (2023–2025), built from 13.9 violent incidents and 33.1 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. In the middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 66.
What is the most common crime in Squamish?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 13.4, theft under $5,000 at 12 and mischief at 10.1, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Squamish?
No: the index fell 17%, from 77.9 in 2023 to 64.8 in 2025.
How much of Squamish’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 17% of crime (30% of violent crime, 13% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Squamish’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).