Photo: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domainCrime per resident in Harbour Grace runs higher than in 81% of Canadian towns
Scored on crime the police covering Harbour Grace reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C− for safety: #29 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. What’s more, for every 1,000 residents, 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2. Violence accounts for an index of 83.3 and other offences for 118.8, against usual levels 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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Harbour Grace detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Harbour Grace
Mischief: high for a town its size
Harbour Grace records 31 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 ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Harbour Grace scores 83.3 for violence and 118.8 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Harbour Grace stands 37th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 15% for Harbour Grace (34% violent, 11% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
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 Harbour Grace’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: #29 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,996 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.
Crime in Harbour Grace, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Harbour Grace runs highest on mischief (31 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (2.9 per 1,000 against 0.7) and break and enter (5.4 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 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.3 | 0.5 | 89% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 95 | 5.4 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 10.3 | 0.6 | 26% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 42.7 | 2.4 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.7 | 0.3 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 157 | 9 | 15% |
| Mischief | 541 | 31 | 3% |
| Weapons violations | 11.7 | 0.7 | 28% |
| Administration of justice violations | 121 | 6.9 | 39% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 34.3 | 2 | 21% |
| Drug violations | 50 | 2.9 | 7% |
| Impaired driving | 96 | 5.5 | 16% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
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, Harbour Grace places 37th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Springdale Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,893 | 49.9 | 56.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Botwood Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,884 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Black River-Matheson Ontario | 2,899 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| 35 | Wawa Ontario | 2,943 | 97.9 | 182.2 | C− |
| 36 | Senneterre Quebec | 2,832 | 103.6 | 183.5 | C− |
| 37 | Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| 38 | Saint-Anicet Quebec | 2,854 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| 39 | Sicamous British Columbia | 2,854 | 145.9 | 184.8 | D |
| 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 Harbour Grace in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 360 violent incidents a year across the police area of 17,500 residents that includes Harbour Grace, 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 930 a year and other violations 520 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
From 2023 to 2025, Harbour Grace’s index climbed 7%
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 114.7, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2023, came in at 101.3. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Harbour Grace | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 114.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 101.3 | 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 Harbour Grace, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Harbour Grace
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour Grace | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Upper Island Cove | 1,553 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Carbonear | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Spaniard's Bay | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Victoria | 1,837 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Bay Roberts | 6,407 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Harbour Grace. Spaniard's Bay, 8.5 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 74.1 to 108. 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
- 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.
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Town and surroundings together. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Harbour Grace is one part.
Questions about safety in Harbour Grace
Is Harbour Grace safe?
Harbour Grace’s Crime Severity Index is 108 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Harbour Grace?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 31, other Criminal Code offences at 17 and assault at 9.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Harbour Grace?
Up 7%: 101.3 in 2023, 108.1 in 2025.
How much of Harbour Grace’s crime do police solve?
15%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 34% and non-violent crime at 11%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Harbour Grace 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).