Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Digby has more crime per resident than 88% of Canadian towns
Out of every 1,000 residents, 30.2 violent incidents and 35.0 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Of the two halves, violence comes to 157.9 and other offences to 120.3, beside norms of 86.4 and 62.8. Graded on crime the police covering Digby reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Digby detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Digby
Mischief: high for a town its size
Digby records 12.3 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 ↓
Rising since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Digby moved from 115.6 to 158.5, while the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Over the Nova Scotia norm
Within Nova Scotia, the median town comes to 71.4 on the index, against 130.3 in Digby. 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
In Digby, up 37% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (158.5); 2023 was the low point, at 115.6. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Digby | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 158.5 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 116.7 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 115.6 | 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 Digby, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Which crimes make up Digby’s figures
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 4.2) and assault (12.2 per 1,000 against 6.7). Theft under $5,000 sits 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 people or more.
The police area Digby is part of, 9,830 residents, recorded about 300 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.
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 | 2,153 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| Digby (14 km) | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision A (19 km) | 6,719 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| Annapolis County, Subdivision B (49 km) | 5,086 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
Digby has the highest index of the places around it. Just 19.5 km away, Annapolis County, Subdivision A comes to 96, against 130.3. Where a neighbour shares its police, it shares the figure too, and isn’t counted above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Digby has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–49 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Digby’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- Severity, weighed. 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.
Questions about safety in Digby
Is Digby safe?
Against a typical 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, Digby’s Crime Severity Index stands at 130.3 for 2023–2025. Its police record 30.2 violent incidents and 35 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Digby?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 22.2, mischief at 12.3 and assault at 12.2, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Digby?
Up 37%: 115.6 in 2023, 158.5 in 2025.
How much of Digby’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 36%: 54% for violent crime and 27% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Digby 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).