Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/72874821@N03/ · CC BY 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Fogo Island than in 61% of Canadian towns
The typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador scores 81 on the same index. Annual rates stand at 12.5 violent incidents and 20.1 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Scored on crime the police covering Fogo Island reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C+ for safety. On top of that, a Crime Severity Index of 73.3, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 67.2 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Carmanville detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Fogo Island
More people here than live here
About 34% of Fogo Island’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Fogo Island records 5.3 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Fogo Island’s two halves part ways: 54.3 for violence (typical 86.4) and 81.5 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Below-typical clearance
Police cleared 21% of Fogo Island’s crime, weighted by seriousness (60% of violent crime, 11% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. 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 Fogo Island
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Fogo Island itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 33 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fogo Island’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Fogo Island runs highest on drug offences (2.8 per 1,000 against 0.7), break and enter (5.3 per 1,000 against 2.5) and mischief (7.9 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault and fraud 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 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 24.7 | 5.3 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 10.7 | 2.3 | 16% |
| Mischief | 37 | 7.9 | 5% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 0.9 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 14.3 | 3.1 | 44% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 12 | 2.6 | 19% |
| Drug violations | 13.3 | 2.8 | 0% |
| Impaired driving | 25.7 | 5.5 | 13% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment nearest Fogo Island, 4,620 residents: around 58 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.
And about 94 property crimes, plus 84 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
The index in Fogo Island, each year
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 93.5, with 2025 the lightest at 55. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Fogo Island | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 55 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 93.5 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 71.3 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Fogo Island, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Fogo Island
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fogo Island | 1,979 | 73.3 | 54.3 | C+ |
| Division No. 8, Subdivision H (40 km) | 1,798 | 78 | 63.9 | C+ |
| Twillingate (41 km) | 2,044 | 78 | 63.9 | C+ |
| Division No. 8, Subdivision L (43 km) | 2,724 | 73.3 | 54.3 | C+ |
Fogo Island has the lowest index of the places around it. Same police, same number: one neighbour drops out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Fogo Island has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 40–43 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Small numbers. The police behind these figures serve about 4,624 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Reading the number. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- 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 Fogo Island
Is Fogo Island safe?
Fogo Island’s Crime Severity Index is 73.3 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 12.5 violent incidents and 20.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Fogo Island?
Most often it is mischief: 7.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 7.9 and Criminal Code traffic offences at 6.4.
Is crime going up in Fogo Island?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 23%, to 55 from 71.3. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Fogo Island’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 60% of violent crime and 11% of everything else, 21% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Fogo Island 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).