Lower Mainland city ranks highest for crime rate among all Canadian metros

While Chilliwack is known for its corn fields and pumpkin patches, the Lower Mainland city has also topped the list for a less desirable title.

Statistics Canada recently published its police-reported crime statistics for 2024, and its data shows that Chilliwack holds the top spot for the highest crime rate and Crime Severity Index (CSI) among the largest urban areas in the country.

StatCan explains that the CSI measures both the volume and severity of crime, encompassing all Criminal Code and other federal statute violations.

On a broader scale, StatCan highlights that when it comes to CSI overall, the volume and severity of police-reported crime in the country decreased by four per cent last year — following three consecutive years of increases.

A large reason for this dip is the decline in non-violent crime in 2024. This category includes property and drug offences, and dropped six per cent last year, after a nine per cent increase from 2021 to 2023.

The violent CSI saw a one per cent decrease in 2024, and had an “overall comparitively smaller impact on the overall CSI,” said StatCan.

Over the past three consecutive years, violent crime has seen a 15 per cent increase.

StatCan notes that compared to 2023, violent CSI was lower in several categories, including level 1 sexual assault (-3 per cent), extortion (-10 per cent), robbery (-2 per cent), attempted murder (-12 per cent) and level 3 or aggravated assault (-8 per cent).

A closer look at B.C.

As for provincial data, B.C. had a CSI of 93, which was higher than the Canadian average of 77.9.

Still, the province experienced a significant 11 per cent drop in CSI compared to 2023.

In a statement, Nina Krieger, B.C.’s minister of public safety and solicitor general, called the findings “encouraging.”

“B.C.’s Crime Severity Index fell 11 per cent last year to its lowest level in six years, marking the largest drop in the country,” she stated.

“This progress reflects the continued efforts by the B.C. government, First Nations and local governments, police services, community organizations and businesses to work together to build safer communities.”

But one group disagrees.

Save Our Streets (SOS), a B.C.coalition of citizens and businesses concerned about crime and safety in the province, argued that the StatCan report “does not provide a complete picture of the level of crime being experienced.”

“Unfortunately, we can take no comfort in this report, which only tells half the story of what’s going on in B.C. communities,” stated Jess Ketchum, SOS co-founder, in a statement.

“Take a walk in almost any downtown in B.C. and it’s quickly apparent and obvious that street disorder and crime has not decreased.”

Chilliwack records highest crime rate

Among the census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Chilliwack recorded the highest crime rate in Canada, with 11,352. However, the city saw its crime rate decrease by four per cent compared to 2023. Chilliwack also had the highest CSI of 141.7, but this represented an 11 per cent decline from the previous year.

StatCan bases crime rates on Criminal Code incidents, excluding traffic offences. The rates are calculated on the basis of 100,000 population.

Red Deer, Alta., had the second-highest crime rate in the country, with 10,650 per 100,000 population.

Kamloops recorded the third-highest crime rate in Canada, with 10,546, but also saw a drop of 19 per cent compared to 2023.

StatCan adds that the conventional crime rate and the CSI are “complementary ways” to measure police-reported crime.

Because the CSI considers the volume and the severity of crime, it will vary when there are changes to either or both of these factors.

To determine severity, each crime is assigned a weight based on the crime’s incarceration rate and the average length of prison sentences handed down by criminal courts.

This means more serious crimes are weighted higher than less serious offences, and have a higher impact on the index.

The full CSI data from Statistics Canada can be found online.