Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPer resident, Bright records more crime than seven in ten Canadian towns
Violence and property crime split as 14.5 violent incidents and 34.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. What’s more, its letter for safety is C, worked out from crime the police covering Bright reported over 2023 to 2025: #35 of 59 in New Brunswick. Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 81.7 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size.
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. Measured across the Nackawic detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Bright
More severe than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Bright stood at 51.4, by 2025 at 94.3. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Bright records 5.5 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Bright stands 27th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 20% for Bright (48% violent, 9% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
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 Bright’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Bright itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 25 km away.
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: #35 of 59 in New Brunswick and #1,745 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
In Bright, up 83% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 99.3, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2023, came in at 51.4. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bright | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 94.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 99.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 51.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Bright, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Bright, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Bright runs highest on break and enter (5.5 per 1,000 against 2.8) and mischief (8.3 per 1,000 against 4.9). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 38.7 | 5.5 | 6% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 1.4 | 24% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 19.7 | 2.8 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 15.3 | 2.3 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 54.7 | 7.7 | 8% |
| Mischief | 59.3 | 8.3 | 7% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 19.3 | 2.8 | 48% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.5 | 9% |
| Drug violations | 4 | 0.6 | — |
| Impaired driving | 12.3 | 1.7 | 27% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
By its index, Bright stands 27th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Kingston New Brunswick | 3,577 | 37.7 | 35.6 | A |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Baie-D'Urfé Quebec | 3,706 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 25 | Killarney Manitoba | 3,708 | 81.4 | 71.7 | C |
| 26 | Carman Manitoba | 3,547 | 81.4 | 113 | C |
| 27 | Bright New Brunswick | 3,648 | 81.7 | 78.9 | C |
| 28 | Westville Nova Scotia | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| 29 | Morris Manitoba | 3,550 | 85.4 | 94.1 | C |
| 30 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | 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 Bright in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Bright, 6,710 residents: around 100 violent incidents a year, 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 240 property crimes and 75 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 Bright
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright | 3,648 | 81.7 | 78.9 | C |
| Queensbury | 1,421 | 81.7 | 78.9 | C |
| Douglas | 6,840 | 63.2 | 81.9 | B− |
| Kingsclear | 3,158 | 63.2 | 81.9 | B− |
The places around Bright all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Douglas (12.9 km away), scores 63.2 against 81.7. One nearby place has no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “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 Bright
Is Bright safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Bright comes to 81.7. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 14.5 violent incidents and 34.1 property crimes. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Bright?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 8.3, theft under $5,000 at 7.7 and other Criminal Code offences at 6.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Bright?
Yes: the index rose 83%, from 51.4 in 2023 to 94.3 in 2025.
How much of Bright’s crime do police solve?
About 20% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 48% of violent and 9% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Bright and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).