Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY 4.0Wabana sees more crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 83.3 and its non-violent half to 118.8, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8. Each of the 6 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. On the record of crime the police covering Wabana reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C− for safety. Per 1,000 residents a year, 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 incidents of property crime were recorded, 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 Harbour Grace detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Wabana
Mischief: high for a town its size
Wabana 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 ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Wabana’s index splits into violent crime, 83.3 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 118.8 against 62.8. By type ↓
Below-typical clearance
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Wabana’s police clear 15%, 34% of violent crime and 11% of the rest. Questions ↓
Over the Newfoundland and Labrador norm
Set among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, whose median is 81, Wabana scores 108. 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.
Inside Wabana’s C− for safety
How sure: Less sure, as Wabana has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 22 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.
What police record in Wabana, by type
Against the typical town its size, Wabana runs highest on mischief (31 per 1,000 against 4.2), drug offences (2.9 per 1,000 against 0.7) and break and enter (5.4 per 1,000 against 2.5). 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.
The detachment nearest Wabana, 17,500 residents: around 360 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.
Add about 930 property crimes and 520 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Wabana’s index rose 7% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (114.7) and 2023 the trough (101.3). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wabana | 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 Wabana, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Wabana
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabana | 2,008 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's | 9,167 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Paradise | 26,155 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Torbay | 8,297 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Conception Bay South | 29,725 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| Mount Pearl | 24,266 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| St. John's | 128,693 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Wabana. Closest is Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, 8.7 km away, at 81 to 108 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- What clearance means. 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.
Questions about safety in Wabana
Is Wabana safe?
Its police recorded 20.3 violent incidents and 53.1 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Wabana a Crime Severity Index of 108. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, the median is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Wabana?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 31, other Criminal Code offences at 17 and assault at 9.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Wabana?
It went up 7% between 2023 and 2025, from 101.3 to 108.1.
How much of Wabana’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 15% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 34% of violent crime and 11% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Wabana and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).