Photo: Diablo2003 · Public domainCrime per resident in Bathurst runs higher than in 81% of Canadian towns
On crime the police covering Bathurst reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #49 of 59 in New Brunswick. Add to that, its 4 neighbours with figures all record less crime per resident. The yearly rates were 32.8 violent incidents and 37.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Violence accounts for an index of 151.1 and other offences for 92.3, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56.
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 Bathurst
Assault: high for a town its size
Bathurst records 16.1 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.6 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Above New Brunswick’s typical town
Set among New Brunswick’s towns, whose median is 72.8, Bathurst scores 108.4. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Bathurst is 32nd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
More severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Bathurst stood at 102.2, by 2025 at 119.7. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Bathurst: C− for safety, and why
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: #49 of 59 in New Brunswick and #1,996 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Bathurst, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Bathurst runs highest on assault (16.1 per 1,000 against 6.6), break and enter (4.9 per 1,000 against 2.2) and drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.8). Fraud sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6.7 | 0.4 | 60% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 7.7 | 0.5 | 82% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 7 | 0.4 | 67% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5.7 | 0.4 | 75% |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.4 | 23% |
| Breaking and entering | 75.3 | 4.9 | 35% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6.7 | 0.4 | 60% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 33.7 | 2.1 | 29% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 13 | 0.9 | 36% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 278.7 | 18.5 | 36% |
| Mischief | 97 | 6.3 | 31% |
| Weapons violations | 7.7 | 0.5 | 52% |
| Administration of justice violations | 233 | 15.4 | 68% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 29 | 1.9 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 23 | 1.5 | 83% |
| Impaired driving | 26.3 | 1.8 | 89% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Year by year in Bathurst: up 17%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 119.7; the lightest was 2023, at 102.2. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bathurst | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 119.7 | 60 |
| 2024 | 103.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 102.2 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Bathurst, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Bathurst places 32nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Colchester County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 14,211 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| 30 | Amos Quebec | 12,773 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| 31 | Gander Newfoundland and Labrador | 12,707 | 97.2 | 80.6 | C− |
| 32 | Bathurst New Brunswick | 13,331 | 108.4 | 151.1 | C− |
| 33 | Lac Ste. Anne County Alberta | 12,639 | 120 | 99.2 | D |
| 34 | Terrace British Columbia | 13,648 | 174.6 | 155 | D |
| 35 | Prince Rupert British Columbia | 12,903 | 185.2 | 292.9 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | D− |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Bathurst in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 500 violent incidents a year on Bathurst’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.
And about 570 property crimes, plus 360 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Bathurst
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst | 13,331 | 108.4 | 151.1 | C− |
| Bathurst | 4,840 | — | — | — |
| Beresford | 4,389 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Nigadoo | 1,102 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Beresford | 6,543 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Petit-Rocher | 2,019 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
The places around Bathurst all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Beresford (8.7 km away), scores 25 against 108.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Bathurst
Is Bathurst safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Bathurst’s Crime Severity Index stands at 108.4 for 2023–2025. Its police record 32.8 violent incidents and 37.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Bathurst?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 19.2 per 1,000 residents a year, then theft under $5,000 (18.5) and assault (16.1).
Is crime going up in Bathurst?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 17%, to 119.7 from 102.2.
How much of Bathurst’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 44% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (33% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 55% of violent and 37% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Bathurst alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).