Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in St. John's than in 67% of Canadian towns
Police cleared 31% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size. What’s more, that puts it at C for safety, judged on crime the police covering St. John's reported from 2023 to 2025: #14 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador. In a usual year, 17.9 violent incidents and 34.9 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 10.8 and 25.1. Split in two, the index gives 104.2 for violence and 72.4 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2).
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the St. John's service area.
What stands out about safety in St. John's
Mischief: high for a town its size
St. John's records 9.4 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, St. John's places 29th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Close to Newfoundland and Labrador’s typical town
St. John's’s index of 81 compares with 81 for the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador. 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.
The C for St. John's, and how it is built
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: #14 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #1,643 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up St. John's’s figures
Against the typical town its size, St. John's runs highest on mischief (9.4 per 1,000 against 3.8), robbery (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4) and assault (8 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 38 | 0.2 | 41% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 144.7 | 0.6 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 28.7 | 0.1 | 30% |
| Robbery | 139.7 | 0.6 | 58% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 21.7 | 0.09 | 65% |
| Other violent violations | 37.3 | 0.2 | 21% |
| Breaking and entering | 724.7 | 3.2 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 41.3 | 0.2 | 73% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 320.7 | 1.4 | 19% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 152.3 | 0.7 | 18% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 3,457.3 | 15 | 15% |
| Mischief | 2,163.3 | 9.4 | 7% |
| Weapons violations | 123 | 0.5 | 34% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,010.7 | 8.7 | 87% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 203 | 0.9 | 23% |
| Drug violations | 112 | 0.5 | 24% |
| Impaired driving | 458.7 | 2 | 56% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 80 | 0.3 | 45% |
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 50,000 people or more.
St. John's comes 29th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Chatham Ontario | 112,716 | 72.1 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 27 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 73.9 | 72.6 | C+ |
| 28 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 78.7 | 101.8 | C |
| 29 | St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador | 128,693 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| 30 | Langley British Columbia | 163,885 | 82.4 | 77.3 | C |
| 31 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| 32 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | 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 St. John's in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area St. John's is part of, 234,500 residents, recorded about 4,110 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 8,030 a year and other violations 3,470 (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, St. John's’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 82.5, and its lowest 2025, at 79.2. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | St. John's | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 81.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 82.5 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering St. John's, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around St. John's
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's | 128,693 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Mount Pearl | 24,266 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove | 1,005 | 90.3 | 68.4 | C |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's | 9,167 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Paradise | 26,155 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove | 2,601 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Torbay | 8,297 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
Its police also cover 5 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- 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.”
- One service, several municipalities. The service that polices St. John's reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
Questions about safety in St. John's
Is St. John's safe?
Police-reported crime in St. John's scores 81 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 17.9 violent incidents and 34.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in St. John's?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 15 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (11.5) and mischief (9.4).
Is crime going up in St. John's?
Barely: 82.5 in 2023, 79.2 in 2025.
How much of St. John's’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 31% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 45% of violent crime and 23% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving St. John's 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).