Photo: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domainCrime per resident in Placentia runs higher than in 66% of Canadian towns
It grades C for safety on crime the police covering Placentia reported from 2023 to 2025: #13 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Add to that, on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 79.6, where the typical Canadian town its size sits at 68.5. Annual rates stand at 19.9 violent incidents and 24.8 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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. Shared with the rest of the Placentia detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Placentia
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Placentia records 5.2 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 ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Placentia’s index splits into violent crime, 65.6 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 85.9 against 62.8. By type ↓
Less crime solved
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Placentia’s police clear 19%, 44% of violent crime and 12% of the rest. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Placentia stands 23rd, the lowest first. 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’s behind Placentia’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: #13 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,630 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 Placentia, by type
Against the typical town its size, Placentia runs highest on drug offences (5.2 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (14.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and assault (10.1 per 1,000 against 6.7). 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 | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 9.3 | 1.9 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4 | 0.8 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 19.3 | 4 | 12% |
| Mischief | 72 | 14.9 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 2.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 26 | 5.4 | 40% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.7 | 2.4 | 20% |
| Drug violations | 25 | 5.2 | 12% |
| Impaired driving | 23 | 4.8 | 10% |
| 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 to 10,000 people.
Around 96 violent incidents a year in the 4,840-resident police area around Placentia, 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 120 a year and other violations 120 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Placentia is 23rd 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+ |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Lewisporte Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,405 | 66.2 | 61.2 | B− |
| 16 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 66.8 | 62.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Quebec | 3,328 | 68.5 | 107.8 | B− |
| 21 | Grande-Rivière Quebec | 3,318 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
| 22 | Saint-André-d'Argenteuil Quebec | 3,300 | 76.4 | 122.2 | C+ |
| 23 | Placentia Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,374 | 79.6 | 65.6 | C |
| 24 | Sables-Spanish Rivers Ontario | 3,412 | 81.9 | 109 | C |
| 25 | Atholville New Brunswick | 3,346 | 89.1 | 100 | C |
| 26 | Electoral Area E (West Boundary), Kootenay Boundary British Columbia | 3,361 | 89.9 | 103.7 | C |
| 27 | Bonavista Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,293 | 92.8 | 63.2 | 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 Placentia in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Placentia’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (86.9) and 2025 the trough (72.6). For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Placentia | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 86.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 79.3 | 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 Placentia, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Placentia
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placentia | 3,374 | 79.6 | 65.6 | C |
| Whitbourne (38 km) | 1,126 | 61.2 | 54.7 | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y (40 km) | 1,374 | 61.2 | 54.7 | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision E (52 km) | 2,978 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M (52 km) | 1,270 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Arnold's Cove (57 km) | 1,016 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
Placentia has the highest index of the places around it. Just 38.3 km away, Whitbourne comes to 61.2, against 79.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 38–57 km from Placentia.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Few people behind the figures. The police behind these figures serve about 4,835 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.”
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Placentia is one part.
- 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. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Placentia
Is Placentia safe?
Police-reported crime in Placentia scores 79.6 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 19.9 violent incidents and 24.8 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 Placentia?
Police record mischief most, 14.9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (11.9) and assault (10.1).
Is crime going up in Placentia?
The reverse: 79.3 in 2023 came down to 72.6 by 2025, 9% lower. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Placentia’s crime do police solve?
19%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 44% and non-violent crime at 12%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Placentia 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).