Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Shippagan than in 67% of Canadian towns
New Brunswick’s towns sit around 72.8, midway up their range. Add to that, the grade is C, built on crime the police covering Shippagan reported from 2023 to 2025: #32 of 59 in New Brunswick. For every 1,000 residents, 20.0 violent incidents and 23.6 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 80.3 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Lameque detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Shippagan
Up since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Shippagan moved from 74.1 to 95.5, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Shippagan records 9.4 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Shippagan places 28th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Below-typical clearance
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Shippagan’s police clear 21%, 32% of violent crime and 15% of the rest. Questions ↓
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 Shippagan, and how it is built
How sure: Not as firm as most grades. Its figures come from the nearest detachment, 2 km off, which covers its own area rather than Shippagan.
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: #32 of 59 in New Brunswick and #1,643 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.
What police record in Shippagan, by type
Against the typical town its size, Shippagan runs highest on drug offences (1.9 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (9.4 per 1,000 against 4.9) and sexual assault (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.9). Motor vehicle theft 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 | 6 | 0.5 | 45% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.4 | 20% |
| Breaking and entering | 25.3 | 2.1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.3 | 0.8 | 11% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 16 | 1.3 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.5 | 5% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 43 | 3.6 | 12% |
| Mischief | 112.3 | 9.4 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 32.3 | 2.7 | 55% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 27.3 | 2.3 | 17% |
| Drug violations | 22.3 | 1.9 | 18% |
| Impaired driving | 25 | 2.1 | 45% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Year by year in Shippagan: up 29%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Of the years charted, 2025 weighed most (95.5) and 2024 least (71.4). 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 | Shippagan | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 95.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 71.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 74.1 | 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 Shippagan, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Shippagan places 28th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Caraquet New Brunswick | 4,572 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Dundas New Brunswick | 4,733 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 25 | Sutton Quebec | 4,775 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 26 | Rivière-Rouge Quebec | 4,882 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 27 | Hampton New Brunswick | 4,754 | 74.5 | 74.9 | C+ |
| 28 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| 29 | Barrhead Alberta | 4,768 | 81.9 | 73.6 | C |
| 30 | Shelburne Nova Scotia | 4,542 | 83.2 | 118.8 | C |
| 31 | Cumberland County, Subdivision D Nova Scotia | 4,692 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 37 | St. Stephen New Brunswick | 4,876 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | 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 Shippagan in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Shippagan, 11,900 residents: around 240 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 280 a year and other violations 200 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Shippagan
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shippagan | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| Lamèque | 1,392 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| Shippagan | 3,073 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| Bas-Caraquet | 1,391 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
| Caraquet | 1,263 | 67.1 | 81.5 | B− |
Shippagan has the highest index of the places around it. Just 12.8 km away, Bas-Caraquet comes to 67.1, against 80.3. The comparison skips 2 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- What 100 means. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- The clearance rate. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Shippagan
Is Shippagan safe?
Police-reported crime in Shippagan scores 80.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 20 violent incidents and 23.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Shippagan?
Most often it is mischief: 9.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come Criminal Code traffic offences at 7.1 and other Criminal Code offences at 7.
Is crime going up in Shippagan?
It went up 29% between 2023 and 2025, from 74.1 to 95.5.
How much of Shippagan’s crime do police solve?
About 21% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 32% of violent and 15% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Shippagan and everywhere else it polices.
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).