Photo: Kyla Curtis · Public domainPer resident, Botwood records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
For comparison, the middle Newfoundland and Labrador town comes to 81. Across all the graded crimes, Botwood lands on B− (#6 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. What’s more, the local count comes to 14.0 violent incidents and 24.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 66.2 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Lewisporte detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Botwood
Rising since 2023
In 2023 the index in Botwood stood at 52.2, by 2025 at 67.5. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Botwood records 10.3 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 ↓
Less crime solved
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Botwood’s police clear 17%, 40% of violent crime and 9% of the rest. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Botwood is 24th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
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 Botwood’s B−
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Botwood itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 24 km away.
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: #6 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,018 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.
In Botwood, up 29% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 79.1 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 52.2 in 2023. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Botwood | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 79.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 52.2 | 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 Botwood, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Botwood, by type
Against the typical town its size, Botwood runs highest on mischief (10.3 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (5.6 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 | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 47 | 5.6 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 45.7 | 5.4 | 12% |
| Mischief | 86.7 | 10.3 | 2% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 13 | 1.5 | 56% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14 | 1.7 | 16% |
| Drug violations | 12.7 | 1.5 | 6% |
| Impaired driving | 34 | 4 | 20% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
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.
Botwood is 24th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Springdale Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,893 | 49.9 | 56.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| 22 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon Quebec | 2,916 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| 23 | Lacolle Quebec | 2,806 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| 24 | Botwood Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,884 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| 25 | Sainte-Luce Quebec | 2,808 | 67.8 | 133.2 | B− |
| 26 | Moosomin Saskatchewan | 2,906 | 68.2 | 62.3 | B− |
| 27 | Forestville Quebec | 2,835 | 72.5 | 127.6 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Athabasca Alberta | 2,887 | 165 | 138.6 | 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 Botwood in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 120 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Botwood (8,430 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.
Property crime adds about 210 a year and other violations 110 (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 Botwood
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botwood | 2,884 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| Bishop's Falls (17 km) | 3,162 | 92.1 | 84.1 | C |
| Lewisporte (25 km) | 3,405 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| Grand Falls-Windsor (30 km) | 14,510 | 92.1 | 84.1 | C |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Botwood. Same police, same number: one neighbour drops out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 17–30 km from Botwood.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Botwood
Is Botwood safe?
Botwood’s Crime Severity Index is 66.2 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 14 violent incidents and 24.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Botwood?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 10.3, assault at 7.5 and other Criminal Code offences at 6.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Botwood?
Up 29%: 52.2 in 2023, 67.5 in 2025.
How much of Botwood’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 40% of violent crime and 9% of everything else, 17% 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 Botwood 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).