Photo: Miguel Tremblay · CC0Crime in Whitbourne sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Add to that, on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 61.2, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ sits at 67.2. All told, Whitbourne grades B− for safety: close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. The local count comes to 11.7 violent incidents and 21.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 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 behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Whitbourne detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Whitbourne
Mischief: high for a town its size
Whitbourne records 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 ↓
Under the Newfoundland and Labrador norm
Whitbourne’s index of 61.2 compares with 81 for the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador. Towns its size ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Whitbourne’s index splits into violent crime, 54.7 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 64.3 against 62.8. By type ↓
Below-typical clearance
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Whitbourne’s police clear 21%, 46% of violent crime and 13% of the rest. 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: B− for Whitbourne
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 Whitbourne, by type
Against the typical town its size, Whitbourne runs highest on mischief (9 per 1,000 against 4.2). Assault sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 34.7 | 4.1 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 0.7 | 5% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 36.7 | 4.4 | 8% |
| Mischief | 75.3 | 9 | 3% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 20.7 | 2.5 | 43% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.7 | 1.4 | 28% |
| Drug violations | 18 | 2.1 | 2% |
| Impaired driving | 46.3 | 5.5 | 20% |
| 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Whitbourne’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
At 78.2, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 52.3. The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Whitbourne | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52.3 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 78.2 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 53.1 | 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 Whitbourne, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Around 98 violent incidents a year in the 8,440-resident police area around Whitbourne, 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 180 property crimes and 120 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Whitbourne
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitbourne | 1,126 | 61.2 | 54.7 | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y | 1,374 | 61.2 | 54.7 | B− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M | 1,270 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| Clarke's Beach | 1,555 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
The places around Whitbourne all score higher on the index. Its police also cover one neighbouring place, which carries the same index and is left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.”
- Shared with the countryside. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Whitbourne’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in Whitbourne
Is Whitbourne safe?
Police-reported crime in Whitbourne scores 61.2 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 11.7 violent incidents and 21.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Whitbourne?
Most often it is mischief: 9 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come Criminal Code traffic offences at 6.4 and other Criminal Code offences at 6.2.
Is crime going up in Whitbourne?
Not much: the index went from 53.1 in 2023 to 52.3 in 2025.
How much of Whitbourne’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 21% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 46% of violent crime and 13% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Whitbourne and everywhere else it polices.
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).