Brownsville records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
The index fell from 104.1 in 2023 to 89.1 in 2025. Year on year, 9.7 violent incidents and 31.0 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Still, its letter for safety is C−, worked out from crime the police covering Brownsville reported over 2023 to 2025: #136 of 251 in British Columbia. Split in two, the index gives 75.5 for violence and 101.5 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2).
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. Crime severity and crime rate for the Surrey service area.
What stands out about safety in Brownsville
A low clearance rate
Police cleared 15% of Brownsville’s crime, weighted by seriousness (36% of violent crime, 8% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, Brownsville’s two halves part ways: 75.5 for violence (typical 75.2) and 101.5 for the rest (typical 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 Brownsville’s grade
How sure: Not as firm as most grades, since the figure covers the entire city rather than Brownsville alone.
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.
What Surrey’s police record, by type
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.
Brownsville, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 104.1 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 87.5. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
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 | Brownsville | 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 Brownsville, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Brownsville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | 23,515 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Whalley | 52,642 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Strawberry Hill | 37,037 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Bridgeview | 3,511 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| Newton | 51,222 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
| New Westminster | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| Port Mann | 5,988 | 93.6 | 75.5 | C− |
Same police, same number: 5 neighbours drop out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One figure for the city. The figures for Brownsville are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- What 100 means. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Brownsville
Is Brownsville safe?
Statistics Canada puts Brownsville at 93.6 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more sit at 60.3 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 9.7 and property crimes at 31 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Brownsville?
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 Brownsville?
The reverse: 104.1 in 2023 came down to 89.1 by 2025, 14% lower.
How much of Brownsville’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 15%: 36% for violent crime and 8% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the 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).