Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY 3.0Crime in Berwick sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Violence and property crime split as 17.1 violent incidents and 31.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Its Crime Severity Index averaged 72.3 over 2023–2025, against 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. All told, Berwick grades C+ for safety (#52 of 88 in Nova Scotia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025.
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. Measured across the Kings County detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Berwick
Mischief: high for a town its size
Berwick records 10.5 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Rising since 2023
Berwick’s index went from 65.6 in 2023 to 79.7 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Berwick is 24th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
About the Nova Scotia norm
Set among Nova Scotia’s towns, whose median is 71.4, Berwick scores 72.3. 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 grade: C+ for Berwick
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: #52 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,514 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Berwick’s index rose 21% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (79.7); 2023 was the low point, at 65.6. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Berwick | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 71.6 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 65.6 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Berwick, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Berwick, by type
Against the typical town its size, Berwick runs highest on mischief (10.5 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 21.7 | 0.4 | 43% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16.7 | 0.3 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 22 | 0.4 | 29% |
| Breaking and entering | 164 | 2.7 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 23.3 | 0.4 | 50% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 81 | 1.3 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 25 | 0.4 | 15% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 675.3 | 11.1 | 21% |
| Mischief | 635 | 10.5 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 20.3 | 0.3 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 264.3 | 4.4 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 64 | 1.1 | 31% |
| Drug violations | 92.7 | 1.5 | 22% |
| Impaired driving | 231.7 | 3.8 | 36% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.3 | 0.06 | — |
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 to 10,000 people.
Berwick comes 24th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel Quebec | 2,599 | 58.7 | 84.9 | B |
| 22 | Saint-Alexandre Quebec | 2,685 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| 23 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| 24 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 25 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 26 | Spaniard's Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,664 | 74.1 | 64.3 | C+ |
| 27 | Macamic Quebec | 2,698 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | La Ronge Saskatchewan | 2,668 | 715.9 | 1,169 | 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 Berwick in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
61,300 residents, about 1,040 violent incidents a year: the police area Berwick belongs to, 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 1,900 a year and other violations 980 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Berwick
Sharing its police with one neighbour, it shares that neighbour’s figure as well, so the neighbour isn’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- 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. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- Shared with the countryside. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Berwick together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Berwick
Is Berwick safe?
Its police recorded 17.1 violent incidents and 31.4 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Berwick a Crime Severity Index of 72.3. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Berwick?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 11.1 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 10.5 and other Criminal Code offences at 9.6.
Is crime going up in Berwick?
Yes: the index rose 21%, from 65.6 in 2023 to 79.7 in 2025.
How much of Berwick’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 46% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 29% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Berwick 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).