Photo: PatHirtle · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgewater records more crime per resident than 64% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 83 to 74.2. Year on year, 16.8 violent incidents and 40.1 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Add to that, a Safety Grade of C+ follows from crime the police covering Bridgewater reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #61 of 88 in Nova Scotia. Its 3 neighbours with figures all record less crime per resident.
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.
What stands out about safety in Bridgewater
Mischief: high for a town its size
Bridgewater records 8.8 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 ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Bridgewater stands 28th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 44% for Bridgewater (61% violent, 33% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Close to Nova Scotia’s typical town
Within Nova Scotia, the median town comes to 71.4 on the index, against 77.2 in Bridgewater. 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.
Bridgewater: C+ for safety, and why
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: #61 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,587 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.
Crime in Bridgewater, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Bridgewater runs highest on mischief (8.8 per 1,000 against 4.9), theft under $5,000 (22.6 per 1,000 against 14.2) and drug offences (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.7). Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 16.7 | 1.7 | 36% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 0.8 | 29% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.5 | 13% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 221 | 22.6 | 31% |
| Mischief | 85.7 | 8.8 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 1 | 51% |
| Administration of justice violations | 71.3 | 7.3 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.7 | 1.2 | 37% |
| Drug violations | 10.7 | 1.1 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 47.3 | 4.9 | 34% |
| 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 to 10,000 people.
Bridgewater, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 83 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 74.2. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bridgewater | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 74.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 74.5 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 83 | 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 Bridgewater, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Bridgewater comes 28th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 66.6 | 81.7 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Shediac New Brunswick | 9,849 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 26 | Saint-Félicien Quebec | 10,143 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| 27 | Roberval Quebec | 9,828 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| 28 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| 29 | Ladysmith British Columbia | 9,926 | 77.3 | 70.2 | C+ |
| 30 | Temiskaming Shores Ontario | 10,144 | 78.8 | 97.1 | C |
| 31 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 84.8 | 74.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | New Glasgow Nova Scotia | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Amherst Nova Scotia | 10,072 | 149.6 | 131.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Bridgewater in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Bridgewater’s police: about 160 violent incidents a year over 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 390 property crimes, plus 180 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Bridgewater
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| Lunenburg | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| Lunenburg | 2,523 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Bridgewater. Closest is Lunenburg, 2.6 km away, at 63.1 to 77.2 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- 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. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Bridgewater
Is Bridgewater safe?
With 16.8 violent incidents and 40.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Bridgewater comes to 77.2 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Bridgewater?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (22.6 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 11.2, and mischief, at 8.8, follow.
Is crime going up in Bridgewater?
Down 11%: 83 in 2023, 74.2 in 2025.
How much of Bridgewater’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 44% of crime (61% of violent crime, 33% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Bridgewater’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).