Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPer resident, Birdland records more crime than 76% of Canadian towns
By 2025 the index had dropped to 89.1, down from 104.1 in 2023. Even so, a Safety Grade of C− follows from crime the police covering Birdland reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #136 of 251 in British Columbia. Of the two halves, violence comes to 75.5 and other offences to 101.5, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2. Out of every 1,000 residents, 9.7 violent incidents and 31.0 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
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 Surrey service area: crime severity and crime rate.
What stands out about safety in Birdland
Less crime solved
For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the typical clearance rate is 38%; Birdland’s police clear 15%, 36% of violent crime and 8% of the rest. Questions ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Birdland’s index splits into violent crime, 75.5 here and 75.2 for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, and everything else, 101.5 against 54.2. 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 Birdland’s grade
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Birdland can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up Surrey’s figures
These are Surrey’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Surrey runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (2.5 per 1,000 against 0.04), drug offences (4 per 1,000 against 0.9) and robbery (0.5 per 1,000 against 0.4). Sexual assault sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 8.7 | 0.02 | 61% |
| Sexual violations against children | 175.7 | 0.3 | 23% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 85.3 | 0.1 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 21 | 0.04 | 32% |
| Robbery | 304.7 | 0.5 | 29% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 23 | 0.04 | 75% |
| Other violent violations | 55.3 | 0.1 | 29% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,019.7 | 2 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 117 | 0.2 | 49% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 871.7 | 1.6 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 289 | 0.6 | 8% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 8,757 | 16.6 | 9% |
| Mischief | 2,447 | 4.5 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 275 | 0.5 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 888.7 | 1.6 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 306.7 | 0.6 | 30% |
| Drug violations | 1,855.7 | 4 | 11% |
| Impaired driving | 848.3 | 1.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 384.3 | 0.7 | 13% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
Birdland, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 104.1, and its lowest 2024, at 87.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Surrey Police Service took over from the RCMP on 29 November 2024. The figures here are the RCMP Surrey detachment’s for 2023–2025, the only full three years; the new service reports 2025 alone.
Every year as a table
| Year | Birdland | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 89.1 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 87.5 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 104.1 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Birdland, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Birdland
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birdland | 10,745 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Port Mann | 5,988 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Guildford | 14,663 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Johnston Heights | 30,971 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Whalley | 52,642 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Fraser Heights | 17,688 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Bridgeview | 3,511 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
6 places nearby are policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- City-wide figures. Its city publishes no open neighbourhood crime figures, so every figure for Birdland is the city police’s, for the whole city.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Birdland
Is Birdland safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Birdland comes to 93.6. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 9.7 violent incidents and 31 property crimes. The middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Birdland?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 16.6 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (15.4) and fraud (5.3).
Is crime going up in Birdland?
Down 14%: 104.1 in 2023, 89.1 in 2025.
How much of Birdland’s crime do police solve?
About 15% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 36% of violent and 8% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police service that covers the whole city.
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).