B.C. Treat Count 2021: These were the Halloween hot spots for trick-or-treaters this year

If you didn't haul home the amount of candy you were hoping for this Halloween, read on.

Every year, user-generated data from CBC's Treat Count reveals who was giving out what where and how many trick-or-treaters showed up to get it.

CBC British Columbia and the City Program at Simon Fraser University, which promotes citizen participation in civic issues, teamed up again to help track the neighbourhoods with the most visitors on Halloween night.

As of Monday morning, more than 385 British Columbian households have reported their seasonal stats. The majority of responses came from homes in Metro Vancouver and, according to Andy Yan, director of the SFU City Program, Halloween 2021 was "a howling success".

"We certainly saw a rise in the amount of trick-or-treaters coming across our threshold this year," said Yan, speaking Monday on CBC's The Early Edition.

A stand-out hot spot this year, as in previous years, was Vancouver's Douglas Park neighbourhood, located at West 22nd Avenue and Heather Street near Cambie Village.

According to responses from homes located around the park, hordes of ghouls and goblins were out to collect.

One home handed out just over 1,800 treats, a neighbouring home reportedly handed out over 1,700 and yet another counted 1,600. A count of 1,300 was also tallied at a house in this hood.

A popular give-away in this area were Rockets, the small, circular, fruit-flavoured Canadian Halloween classic. For chocolate lovers, mini bars were also handed out in droves around Douglas.

Chocolate was the most popular choice of candy to hand out across B.C., but otherwise there wasn't much of a pattern among the heavy hitters in terms of the type of treat.

Based on all the responses received from homes within the City of Vancouver, Yan also highlighted Trinity Street in East Vancouver, where one household tapped out at 1,200 mini chocolate bars.

Beyond Vancouver

Outside of Vancouver, Yan said large amounts of candy were also doled out in the Queen's Park area of New Westminster and in the Walnut Grove neighbourhood of Langley.

In Port Moody, a home on Ravine Drive reported handing out over 10,000 Babe Ruth chocolate bars.

The majority of responses received were from within the Lower Mainland, but of those responses received elsewhere in B.C., the highest counts calculated were one home in Sooke and another in the Sea-to-Sky area that saw 400 eager trick-or-treaters.

In third place for counts outside the Lower Mainland was a home in View Royal, which handed out 309 wagon wheels.

In solid last place was a household near Burns Lake, where zero candy was handed out. "We ate it all," was the reason provided.

Seasoned trick-or-treaters were also on the hunt for the elusive full-size chocolate bars.

As of Monday morning, 28 homes told CBC they had big bars at the ready. Of those, 17 were in the Lower Mainland and 11 were elsewhere. 

One household in the Strathcona neighbourhood of Vancouver reportedly had full size bars on hand but no treaters to hand them to.

Many household responders also followed Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry's request for people to get creative when giving out the goods.

"Candy chutes" were a particularly popular addition this year, as was placing candy at a safe social distance from front doors and using tongs to reduce contamination.