Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in St. Stephen than in 90% of Canadian towns
Its weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solved, is 23% (the typical Canadian town its size: 34%). Add to that, for every 1,000 residents, 25.5 violent incidents and 60.2 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2. Counting crime the police covering St. Stephen reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #2,458 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Of the two halves, violence comes to 115 and other offences to 156.3, beside norms of 85.7 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the St Stephen detachment area.
What stands out about safety in St. Stephen
Mischief: high for a town its size
St. Stephen records 21 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 ↓
Over the New Brunswick norm
The typical New Brunswick town scores 72.8; St. Stephen, 143.6. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, St. Stephen comes 38th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, St. Stephen’s two halves part ways: 115 for violence (typical 85.7) and 156.3 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.
What’s behind St. Stephen’s grade
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: #2,458 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.
St. Stephen’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, St. Stephen runs highest on mischief (21 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (11.7 per 1,000 against 2.8) and drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 7.3 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.5 | 34% |
| Breaking and entering | 127.7 | 11.7 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 15 | 1.4 | 22% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 37.7 | 3.5 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 0.9 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 143.7 | 13.2 | 25% |
| Mischief | 227.7 | 21 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 12.7 | 1.2 | 45% |
| Administration of justice violations | 68.3 | 6.3 | 61% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 32.7 | 3 | 18% |
| Drug violations | 24.3 | 2.3 | 25% |
| Impaired driving | 51 | 4.8 | 47% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, St. Stephen places 38th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Valley Ontario | 4,759 | 26.4 | 20.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Dundas New Brunswick | 4,733 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Hampton New Brunswick | 4,754 | 74.5 | 74.9 | C+ |
| 28 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Sussex New Brunswick | 4,994 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Cardston County Alberta | 4,938 | 108 | 123.7 | C− |
| 36 | Woodlands County Alberta | 4,778 | 120.9 | 106.4 | D |
| 37 | Tyendinaga Ontario | 5,005 | 131.9 | 280.3 | D |
| 38 | St. Stephen New Brunswick | 4,876 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| 39 | Nipawin Saskatchewan | 5,033 | 182.3 | 163.9 | D |
| 40 | Flin Flon (Part) Manitoba | 4,732 | 332 | 605.3 | 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 St. Stephen in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 280 violent incidents a year across the police area of 10,500 residents that includes St. Stephen, 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 650 property crimes, plus 380 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
In St. Stephen, down 7% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 148.5, and 2025 the lightest at 138.3. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | St. Stephen | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 138.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 144 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 148.5 | 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 St. Stephen, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around St. Stephen
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Stephen | 4,876 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| Saint Stephen | 1,772 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| Saint David | 1,559 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
| Saint James | 1,085 | 143.6 | 115 | D |
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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: St. Stephen together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in St. Stephen
Is St. Stephen safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for St. Stephen comes to 143.6. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 25.5 violent incidents and 60.2 property crimes. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in St. Stephen?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 23.8 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (21) and theft under $5,000 (13.2).
Is crime going up in St. Stephen?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 7%, to 138.3 from 148.5.
How much of St. Stephen’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 23% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 47% of violent and 16% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving St. Stephen together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).