Photo: NordSpace · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Lawrence records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering St. Lawrence reported put it at C for safety. Of the two halves, violence comes to 93 and other offences to 90.8, beside norms of 86.4 and 62.8. Out of every 1,000 residents, 21.3 violent incidents and 29.7 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 31.2 in 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-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Burin Peninsula detachment area.
What stands out about safety in St. Lawrence
Mischief: high for a town its size
St. Lawrence records 16.9 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Close to Newfoundland and Labrador’s typical town
Within Newfoundland and Labrador, the median town comes to 81 on the index, against 90.8 in St. Lawrence. Towns its size ↓
The non-violent half stands out
St. Lawrence scores 93 for violence and 90.8 for other crime; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ scores 86.4 and 62.8. By type ↓
A low clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 25% for St. Lawrence (49% violent, 15% non-violent), beside 34% for 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 St. Lawrence
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for St. Lawrence itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 32 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.
Crime in St. Lawrence, type by type
Against the typical town its size, St. Lawrence runs highest on mischief (16.9 per 1,000 against 4.2) and assault (9.2 per 1,000 against 6.7). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 10.3 | 0.6 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 8 | 0.4 | 96% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 8 | 0.4 | 25% |
| Breaking and entering | 67 | 3.6 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.3 | 0.6 | 26% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 90.7 | 4.8 | 26% |
| Mischief | 316.7 | 16.9 | 6% |
| Weapons violations | 7 | 0.4 | 61% |
| Administration of justice violations | 138 | 7.4 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 34.7 | 1.9 | 29% |
| Drug violations | 64 | 3.4 | 6% |
| Impaired driving | 73.7 | 3.9 | 33% |
| 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.
About 400 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest St. Lawrence (18,500 residents), 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 560 a year and other violations 440 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
St. Lawrence’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 101; 2023 was the lightest, at 85.1. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | St. Lawrence | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 86.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 101 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 85.1 | 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 St. Lawrence, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around St. Lawrence
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Lawrence | 1,138 | 90.8 | 93 | C |
| Burin (23 km) | 2,249 | 90.8 | 93 | C |
| Marystown (32 km) | 5,196 | 90.8 | 93 | C |
| Grand Bank (34 km) | 2,082 | 54.2 | 69.3 | B |
| Fortune (37 km) | 1,249 | 54.2 | 69.3 | B |
The places around St. Lawrence all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Grand Bank (33.9 km away), scores 54.2 against 90.8. 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. St. Lawrence has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 23–37 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in St. Lawrence
Is St. Lawrence safe?
Statistics Canada puts St. Lawrence at 90.8 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more sit at 67.2 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 21.3 and property crimes at 29.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in St. Lawrence?
Top of the list is mischief (16.9 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 14.4, and assault, at 9.2, follow.
Is crime going up in St. Lawrence?
Hardly at all, from 85.1 in 2023 to 86.4 in 2025.
How much of St. Lawrence’s crime do police solve?
About 25% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 49% of violent and 15% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving St. Lawrence 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).