Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainRecorded crime per resident is lower in Saint Mary than in 92% of Canadian towns
The yearly rates were 7.3 violent incidents and 16.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. The index held steady between 2023 (41.6) and 2025 (40.5). That puts it at A for safety, judged on crime the police covering Saint Mary reported from 2023 to 2025. Its violent half comes to 31.3 and its non-violent half to 36.1, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Bouctouche detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Saint Mary
Under the New Brunswick norm
The typical New Brunswick town scores 72.8; Saint Mary, 34.5. Towns its size ↓
Below-typical clearance
Police cleared 19% of Saint Mary’s crime, weighted by seriousness (49% of violent crime, 8% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Saint Mary’s two halves part ways: 31.3 for violence (typical 86.4) and 36.1 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: A for Saint Mary
How sure: Not as firm as most grades. Its figures come from the nearest detachment, 11 km off, which covers its own area rather than Saint Mary.
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.
Saint Mary’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Saint Mary runs highest on mischief (5.6 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.08 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 20.7 | 1.7 | 6% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 0.8 | 13% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 20.3 | 1.7 | 1% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 34 | 2.9 | 4% |
| Mischief | 66.3 | 5.6 | 5% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 9.3 | 0.8 | 46% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.7 | 0.5 | 23% |
| Drug violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8 | 0.7 | 34% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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.
The detachment closest to Saint Mary, 12,000 residents, recorded about 87 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.
Property crime adds about 200 a year and other violations 48 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Saint Mary, year by year
Crime Severity Index
From 41.6 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 21.4 in 2024. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Saint Mary | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40.5 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 21.4 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 41.6 | 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 Saint Mary, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Saint Mary
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary | 2,083 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Saint-Antoine | 1,880 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Bouctouche | 2,678 | 102 | 100.1 | C− |
| Wellington | 3,458 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Cocagne | 2,982 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
3 nearby places have 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
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “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.
Questions about safety in Saint Mary
Is Saint Mary safe?
Saint Mary scores 34.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 7.3 violent incidents and 16.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Saint Mary?
Mischief is the most common, at 5.6 per 1,000 residents a year, then fraud (3.4) and assault (3).
Is crime going up in Saint Mary?
Hardly at all, from 41.6 in 2023 to 40.5 in 2025.
How much of Saint Mary’s crime do police solve?
19%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 49% and non-violent crime at 8%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Saint Mary 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).