Photo: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime in Vancouver scores 55% higher than in the typical Canadian town its size
None of the 6 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Still, recorded violent incidents ran at 12.5 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 43.6, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 96.9 to 89.3. Of the two halves, violence comes to 99.3 and other offences to 91.8, beside norms of 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.
What stands out about safety in Vancouver
Theft under $5,000: high for a town its size
Vancouver records 24.9 incidents of theft under $5,000 per 1,000 residents a year, against 11.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Below-typical clearance
For Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the typical clearance rate is 38%; Vancouver’s police clear 26%, 39% of violent crime and 20% of the rest. Questions ↓
Much like British Columbia’s towns
The typical British Columbia town scores 83.2; Vancouver, 93.4. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Vancouver’s Safety Grade is still to come
The letter is still to come: Canada is being graded in one run, once every data set is checked.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
What police record in Vancouver, by type
Against the typical town its size, Vancouver runs highest on robbery (0.9 per 1,000 against 0.4), theft under $5,000 (24.9 per 1,000 against 11.5) and mischief (7.5 per 1,000 against 3.8). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 17.3 | 0.02 | 75% |
| Sexual violations against children | 237.7 | 0.3 | 14% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 163.7 | 0.2 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 26 | 0.04 | 63% |
| Robbery | 655 | 0.9 | 33% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 44.3 | 0.06 | 73% |
| Other violent violations | 99.7 | 0.1 | 42% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,481.7 | 3.3 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 457 | 0.6 | 50% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 673.3 | 0.9 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 849 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 18,459.3 | 24.9 | 13% |
| Mischief | 5,579.7 | 7.5 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 911 | 1.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,897 | 2.6 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 627 | 0.8 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 1,305.7 | 1.8 | 67% |
| Impaired driving | 573.7 | 0.8 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 12 | 0.02 | 48% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Vancouver, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 96.9 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 89.3. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Vancouver | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 89.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 93.9 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 96.9 | 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 Vancouver, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 9,290 violent incidents a year on Vancouver’s police records (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.
Add about 32,300 property crimes and 7,090 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Vancouver
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | 740,454 | 93.4 | 99.3 | — |
| Riley Park | 23,682 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
| Mount Pleasant | 37,091 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
| South Cambie | 9,846 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
| Little Saigon | 11,086 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
| Fairview | 33,969 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
| Shaughnessy | 8,034 | 93.4 | 99.3 | C− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Vancouver.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- The clearance rate. 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.
- Severity, weighed. 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.
Questions about safety in Vancouver
Is Vancouver safe?
Vancouver scores 93.4 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 12.5 violent incidents and 43.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Vancouver?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 24.9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (7.5) and assault (6.9).
Is crime going up in Vancouver?
No: the index fell 8%, from 96.9 in 2023 to 89.3 in 2025.
How much of Vancouver’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 39% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 26% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Vancouver and nowhere else.
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). 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).