Photo: Marek Koudelka · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Salisbury runs higher than in 60% of Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Salisbury reported put it at C+ for safety: #23 of 59 in New Brunswick. Both towns on its borders with figures record more crime per resident. By contrast, a Crime Severity Index of 72.8, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Out of every 1,000 residents, 13.3 violent incidents and 30.9 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical 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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Shediac detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Salisbury
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Salisbury places 28th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Up since 2023
In 2023 the index in Salisbury stood at 66.4, by 2025 at 77.9. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A low clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Salisbury’s police clear 25%, 49% of violent crime and 16% of the rest. Questions ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Salisbury’s index splits into violent crime, 74.8 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 72.6 against 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 C+ for Salisbury, and how it is built
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 44 km from Salisbury, not to the town.
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: #23 of 59 in New Brunswick and #1,528 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.
Year by year in Salisbury: up 17%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (77.9); 2023 was the low point, at 66.4. 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 | Salisbury | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 77.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 74 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 66.4 | 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 Salisbury, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Salisbury, by type
Against the typical town its size, Salisbury runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3.6 per 1,000 against 2.6), mischief (6.6 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (3.6 per 1,000 against 2.8). 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 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6.3 | 0.2 | 48% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 17.7 | 0.6 | 90% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 5.3 | 0.2 | 57% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7.3 | 0.3 | 37% |
| Breaking and entering | 104.7 | 3.6 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 53 | 1.8 | 28% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 106.3 | 3.6 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 16.3 | 0.6 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 265.7 | 9 | 20% |
| Mischief | 193.7 | 6.6 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 0.2 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 54.7 | 1.9 | 74% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 43.7 | 1.5 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 24 | 0.8 | 29% |
| Impaired driving | 76 | 2.6 | 46% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 6 | 0.2 | 5% |
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.
Salisbury is 28th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Esterhazy Saskatchewan | 2,513 | 66.4 | 84.4 | B− |
| 26 | Cap-Chat Quebec | 2,519 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
| 27 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 29 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague Quebec | 2,536 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| 30 | North Frontenac Ontario | 2,515 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| 31 | Chase British Columbia | 2,591 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Grand Manan New Brunswick | 2,648 | 118.7 | 156 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | 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 Salisbury in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 390 violent incidents a year at the detachment nearest Salisbury (30,400 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.
And about 910 property crimes, plus 370 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 Salisbury
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| Salisbury | 3,806 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| Petitcodiac | 1,610 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Salisbury.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Salisbury
Is Salisbury safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 72.8 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Salisbury stands, with 13.3 violent and 30.9 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Salisbury?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (6.9) and mischief (6.6).
Is crime going up in Salisbury?
It went up 17% between 2023 and 2025, from 66.4 to 77.9.
How much of Salisbury’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 49% of violent crime and 16% of everything else, 25% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Salisbury 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).