Photo: Reynoborn64 · Public domainPer resident, Digby records more crime than 88% of Canadian towns
The Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crime the police covering Digby reported through 2023 to 2025: #85 of 88 in Nova Scotia. Behind the grade sit 30.2 violent incidents and 35.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Of the two halves, violence comes to 157.9 and other offences to 120.3, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Digby detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Digby
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Digby records 4.5 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Rising since 2023
In 2023 the index in Digby stood at 115.6, by 2025 at 158.5. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Over the Nova Scotia norm
Set among Nova Scotia’s towns, whose median is 71.4, Digby scores 130.3. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Digby is 34th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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 Digby’s grade
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: #85 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,309 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.
Year by year in Digby: up 37%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2025, the last year shown, came out highest at 158.5, and 2023 lowest at 115.6. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Digby | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 158.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 116.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 115.6 | 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 Digby, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Digby, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Digby runs highest on drug offences (4.5 per 1,000 against 0.7), mischief (12.3 per 1,000 against 4.9) and sexual assault (1.7 per 1,000 against 0.9). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.3 | 0.8 | 57% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7.7 | 0.8 | 39% |
| Breaking and entering | 39 | 3.9 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6.3 | 0.6 | 37% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17 | 1.7 | 22% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6 | 0.6 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 88 | 8.9 | 26% |
| Mischief | 122.3 | 12.3 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.9 | 65% |
| Administration of justice violations | 114 | 11.5 | 56% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 22 | 2.2 | 49% |
| Drug violations | 44.7 | 4.5 | 28% |
| Impaired driving | 64 | 6.5 | 48% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 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 to 10,000 people.
Digby is 34th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Kentville Nova Scotia | 7,589 | 82.9 | 90.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Chibougamau Quebec | 7,273 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| 32 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 33 | Brazeau County Alberta | 7,685 | 130 | 92.3 | D |
| 34 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| 35 | Dryden Ontario | 7,808 | 137.6 | 238.3 | D |
| 36 | Fort Frances Ontario | 7,607 | 143.8 | 209.3 | D |
| 37 | Athabasca County Alberta | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Bonnyville Alberta | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | 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 Digby in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 300 violent incidents a year across the police area of 9,830 residents that includes Digby, 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 350 property crimes, plus 380 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 Digby
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digby | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| Digby (14 km) | 2,153 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision A (33 km) | 6,719 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| Clare (37 km) | 8,020 | 79.7 | 93.8 | C |
The places around Digby all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Annapolis County, Subdivision A (33 km away), scores 96 against 130.3. The table leaves out one neighbour whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 14–37 km from Digby.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Digby’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Digby
Is Digby safe?
Digby’s Crime Severity Index is 130.3 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 30.2 violent incidents and 35 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Digby?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (22.2 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 12.3, and assault, at 12.2, follow.
Is crime going up in Digby?
Yes: the index rose 37%, from 115.6 in 2023 to 158.5 in 2025.
How much of Digby’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 36% of crime (54% of violent crime, 27% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Digby 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).