Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wellington has less crime per resident than 92% of Canadian towns
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Wellington’s violent half comes to 31.3 and its non-violent half to 36.1, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. On crime the police covering Wellington reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A for safety: #5 of 59 in New Brunswick. What’s more, in a usual year, 7.3 violent incidents and 16.6 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2.
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 Bouctouche detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Wellington
Under the New Brunswick norm
Wellington’s index of 34.5 compares with 72.8 for the typical town in New Brunswick. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Wellington places 5th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Wellington’s police clear 19%, 49% of violent crime and 8% of the rest. Questions ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Wellington’s index splits into violent crime, 31.3 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 36.1 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.
What sits behind Wellington’s A
How sure: Not as firm as most grades. Its figures come from the nearest detachment, 1 km off, which covers its own area rather than Wellington.
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: #5 of 59 in New Brunswick and #174 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 Wellington, by type
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 to 10,000 people.
Wellington is 5th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Quebec | 3,400 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 2 | North Kawartha Ontario | 3,355 | 28.5 | 38.1 | A+ |
| 3 | Horton Ontario | 3,550 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Shuniah Ontario | 3,458 | 29.8 | 60 | A+ |
| 5 | Wellington New Brunswick | 3,458 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| 6 | Merrickville Ontario | 3,411 | 35.2 | 36.4 | A |
| 7 | Saint-Isidore Quebec | 3,550 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 8 | Saint-Pascal Quebec | 3,516 | 42.5 | 72 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Atholville New Brunswick | 3,346 | 89.1 | 100 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Buckland No. 491 Saskatchewan | 3,550 | 332.1 | 425.8 | 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 Wellington in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment closest to Wellington, 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.
Wellington’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 41.6, against a low of 21.4 in 2024. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wellington | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 21.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 41.6 | 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 Wellington, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Wellington
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | 3,458 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Bouctouche | 2,678 | 102 | 100.1 | C− |
| Saint Mary | 2,083 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Richibucto | 2,457 | 110.5 | 149.1 | C− |
| Saint-Antoine | 1,880 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
| Cocagne | 2,982 | 34.5 | 31.3 | A |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Wellington. 3 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- 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 Wellington
Is Wellington safe?
Its police recorded 7.3 violent incidents and 16.6 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Wellington a Crime Severity Index of 34.5. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Wellington?
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 Wellington?
Not much: the index went from 41.6 in 2023 to 40.5 in 2025.
How much of Wellington’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 19% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 49% of violent crime and 8% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Wellington 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).