Photo: Yergoneby · CC BY-SA 4.0Bonavista sees more crime per resident than 75% of Canadian towns
Its Safety Grade is C, on crime the police covering Bonavista reported from 2023 to 2025: #23 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. What’s more, the index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 92.8 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Out of every 1,000 residents, 16.5 violent incidents and 34.8 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. From 2023 to 2025 its Crime Severity Index stayed steady, 87.6 then 91.6.
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 Bonavista detachment area).
What stands out about safety in Bonavista
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Bonavista records 3.8 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Violent crime scores 63.2 on Bonavista’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 105.4 against 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Bonavista places 28th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Less crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 19% of crime in Bonavista ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 41% of violent crime and 14% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C for Bonavista
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 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,821 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.
Which crimes make up Bonavista’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Bonavista runs highest on drug offences (3.8 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (18.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (6.6 per 1,000 against 2.8). Fraud 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 | 3.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48.7 | 6.6 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6.3 | 0.9 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 39 | 5.3 | 15% |
| Mischief | 139.3 | 18.9 | 7% |
| Weapons violations | 2.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 37.7 | 5.1 | 62% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.4 | 31% |
| Drug violations | 28.3 | 3.8 | 7% |
| Impaired driving | 37 | 5 | 19% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
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.
By its index, Bonavista stands 28th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide-Metcalfe Ontario | 3,196 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 66.8 | 62.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Placentia Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,374 | 79.6 | 65.6 | C |
| 25 | Atholville New Brunswick | 3,346 | 89.1 | 100 | C |
| 26 | Dalhousie New Brunswick | 3,255 | 89.1 | 100 | C |
| 27 | Electoral Area E (West Boundary), Kootenay Boundary British Columbia | 3,361 | 89.9 | 103.7 | C |
| 28 | Bonavista Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,293 | 92.8 | 63.2 | C |
| 29 | Annapolis County, Subdivision D Nova Scotia | 3,273 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| 30 | Virden Manitoba | 3,322 | 103.6 | 169 | C− |
| 31 | Central Okanagan West British Columbia | 3,298 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 718.3 | 807.9 | 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 Bonavista in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Bonavista is part of, 7,360 residents, recorded about 120 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.
Add about 260 property crimes and 180 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Bonavista, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 99.2 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 87.6 in 2023. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bonavista | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 91.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 99.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 87.6 | 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 Bonavista, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bonavista
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonavista | 3,293 | 92.8 | 63.2 | C |
| Trinity Bay North (15 km) | 1,692 | 92.8 | 63.2 | C |
| Division No. 7, Subdivision E (64 km) | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| New-Wes-Valley (65 km) | 2,011 | 49.5 | 56.1 | B+ |
| Centreville-Wareham-Trinity (69 km) | 1,100 | 49.5 | 56.1 | B+ |
| Glovertown (70 km) | 2,014 | 63.9 | 73.4 | B− |
Bonavista has the highest index of the places around it. Just 63.6 km away, Division No. 7, Subdivision E comes to 64.2, against 92.8. One neighbour is on the same police service or detachment, so it shares the figure and isn’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Bonavista with figures are 15–70 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- A wider policing area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Bonavista together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Bonavista
Is Bonavista safe?
Bonavista scores 92.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 16.5 violent incidents and 34.8 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Bonavista?
Police record mischief most, 18.9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (12.3) and Criminal Code traffic offences (7).
Is crime going up in Bonavista?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 87.6 to 91.6.
How much of Bonavista’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 19%: 41% for violent crime and 14% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Bonavista 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).