Photo: ValerieWalking · CC BY-SA 2.0Newcastle sees more crime per resident than 79% of Canadian towns
On Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 100.3, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ sits at 67.2. It grades C− for safety on crime the police covering Newcastle reported from 2023 to 2025. Each year brought 25.1 violent incidents and 34.8 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+).
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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Sunny Corner detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Newcastle
Mischief: high for a town its size
Newcastle records 16.3 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Lighter than in 2023
Newcastle’s index went from 125.9 in 2023 to 73.9 in 2025; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Higher than most of New Brunswick
Newcastle’s index of 100.3 compares with 72.8 for the typical town in New Brunswick. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
Weighted by seriousness, 21% of crime in Newcastle ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 33% of violent crime and 14% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 34%. 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 Newcastle’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Newcastle itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 24 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
From 2023 to 2025, Newcastle’s index dropped 41%
Crime Severity Index
From 125.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 73.9 in 2025. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Newcastle | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 73.9 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 101.2 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 125.9 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Newcastle, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Which crimes make up Newcastle’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Newcastle runs highest on mischief (16.3 per 1,000 against 4.2) and assault (11.7 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 22.7 | 3.6 | 10% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6.7 | 1.1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 23.3 | 3.7 | 3% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 23 | 3.7 | 3% |
| Mischief | 101 | 16.3 | 4% |
| Weapons violations | 7 | 1.1 | 47% |
| Administration of justice violations | 22.3 | 3.7 | 63% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.8 | 7% |
| Drug violations | 11.3 | 1.8 | 24% |
| Impaired driving | 23.7 | 3.9 | 37% |
| 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 people or more.
About 160 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Newcastle (6,840 residents), 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 220 property crimes and 100 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 Newcastle
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 1,166 | 100.3 | 142.4 | C− |
| Miramichi (13 km) | 19,402 | 82.1 | 89.1 | C |
| Northesk (21 km) | 2,301 | 100.3 | 142.4 | C− |
| Southesk (26 km) | 1,748 | 100.3 | 142.4 | C− |
| Nelson (26 km) | 1,014 | 100.3 | 142.4 | C− |
Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 3 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 13–26 km from Newcastle.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- What clearance means. 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.
- An index, not a verdict. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Newcastle
Is Newcastle safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Newcastle scores 100.3 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 25.1 violent and 34.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Newcastle?
Police record mischief most, 16.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (11.7) and other Criminal Code offences (8.5).
Is crime going up in Newcastle?
No: the index fell 41%, from 125.9 in 2023 to 73.9 in 2025.
How much of Newcastle’s crime do police solve?
About 21% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 33% of violent and 14% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Newcastle 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).