Photo: Ayadm · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Upper Island Cove runs higher than in 81% of Canadian towns
Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Violence accounts for an index of 83.3 and other offences for 118.8, against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8. Measured on crime the police covering Upper Island Cove reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C−. 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 Canadian town of 2,500+, the figures are 12.0 and 31.2.
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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Harbour Grace detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Upper Island Cove
Mischief: high for a town its size
Upper Island Cove records 31 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 ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Upper Island Cove’s two halves part ways: 83.3 for violence (typical 86.4) and 118.8 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
A low clearance rate
Police cleared 15% of Upper Island Cove’s crime, weighted by seriousness (34% of violent crime, 11% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Above Newfoundland and Labrador’s typical town
Upper Island Cove’s index of 108 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.
What’s behind Upper Island Cove’s grade
How sure: Less sure, as Upper Island Cove has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 4 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.
Upper Island Cove’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Upper Island Cove runs highest on mischief (31 per 1,000 against 4.2), break and enter (5.4 per 1,000 against 2.5) and assault (9.7 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 | 0.3 | 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 people or more.
Around 360 violent incidents a year at the detachment nearest Upper Island Cove (17,500 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.
And about 930 property crimes, plus 520 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
From 2023 to 2025, Upper Island Cove’s index climbed 7%
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 114.7, with 2023 the lightest at 101.3. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Upper Island Cove | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 114.7 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 101.3 | 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 Upper Island Cove, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Upper Island Cove
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Island Cove | 1,553 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Harbour Grace | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Spaniard's Bay | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Bay Roberts | 6,407 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Carbonear | 5,041 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Victoria | 1,837 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Clarke's Beach | 1,555 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
The places around Upper Island Cove all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Spaniard's Bay (6.3 km away), scores 74.1 against 108. 3 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 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.
Questions about safety in Upper Island Cove
Is Upper Island Cove safe?
The short answer is an index of 108 for Upper Island Cove (2023–2025), built from 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Upper Island Cove?
Most often it is mischief: 31 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 17 and assault at 9.7.
Is crime going up in Upper Island Cove?
It went up 7% between 2023 and 2025, from 101.3 to 108.1.
How much of Upper Island Cove’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 15% of crime (34% of violent crime, 11% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Upper Island Cove 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).