Photo: Tango7174 · CC BY-SA 4.0Spaniard's Bay sees more crime per resident than 62% of Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Spaniard's Bay reported put it at C+ for safety: #10 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Even so, the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador scores 81 on the same index. On Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 74.1, where the typical Canadian town its size sits at 68.5. By 2025 the index had climbed to 71.8, up from 67.3 in 2023.
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 Bay Roberts detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Spaniard's Bay
Mischief: high for a town its size
Spaniard's Bay records 16.9 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 ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Spaniard's Bay scores 64.3 for violence and 78.6 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Spaniard's Bay places 24th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear less here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 21% for Spaniard's Bay (51% violent, 12% 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.
Inside Spaniard's Bay’s C+ for safety
How sure: A less certain grade than most, because the figures belong to the nearest detachment, 4 km from Spaniard's Bay, not to the town.
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: #10 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,555 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 Spaniard's Bay, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Spaniard's Bay runs highest on drug offences (2.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (16.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and break and enter (3.3 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 | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 60.7 | 3.3 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8 | 0.4 | 21% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 30 | 1.6 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 89.7 | 4.9 | 14% |
| Mischief | 312 | 16.9 | 5% |
| Weapons violations | 5.7 | 0.3 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 61 | 3.3 | 45% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 18.7 | 1 | 21% |
| Drug violations | 49 | 2.7 | 1% |
| Impaired driving | 96 | 5.2 | 22% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.09 | — |
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.
Spaniard's Bay, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 83.2 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 67.3 in 2023. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Spaniard's Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 71.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 83.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 67.3 | 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 Spaniard's Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Spaniard's Bay stands 24th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| 22 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 23 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 73.3 | 54.3 | C+ |
| 24 | Spaniard's Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| 25 | Macamic Quebec | 2,698 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| 26 | Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 2,691 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| 27 | Hanna Alberta | 2,665 | 76.9 | 65.8 | C+ |
| 28 | Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,601 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 Spaniard's Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Spaniard's Bay, 18,600 residents: around 250 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.
Property crime adds about 550 a year and other violations 360 (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 Spaniard's Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spaniard's Bay | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Bay Roberts | 6,407 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Upper Island Cove | 1,553 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Harbour Grace | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Clarke's Beach | 1,555 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Carbonear | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Victoria | 1,837 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
The places around Spaniard's Bay all score higher on the index. 2 places nearby are policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- The index’s scale. 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.
Questions about safety in Spaniard's Bay
Is Spaniard's Bay safe?
Police-reported crime in Spaniard's Bay scores 74.1 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 13.6 violent incidents and 30 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Spaniard's Bay?
Top of the list is mischief (16.9 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 9, and Criminal Code traffic offences, at 7.5, follow.
Is crime going up in Spaniard's Bay?
It has: 67.3 in 2023 became 71.8 by 2025, a rise of 7%.
How much of Spaniard's Bay’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 51% of violent crime and 12% of everything else, 21% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Spaniard's Bay 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).