Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Enfield sees less crime per resident than 61% of Canadian towns
On the record of crime the police covering Enfield reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes B for safety: #5 of 88 in Nova Scotia. Even so, in a usual year, 12.4 violent incidents and 26.6 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.0 and 30.5. Its violent half comes to 63.4 and its non-violent half to 52.2, where the norm is 89.4 and 56.
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Enfield (East Hants) detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Enfield
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Enfield places 24th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Lighter than Nova Scotia’s middle
Enfield’s index of 55.1 compares with 71.4 for the typical town in Nova Scotia. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Enfield records 8.6 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
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 Enfield
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: #5 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #715 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Enfield, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Enfield runs highest on mischief (8.6 per 1,000 against 3.7). Break and enter and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.3 | 0.3 | 52% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 41 | 1.6 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 12.7 | 0.5 | 31% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 46 | 1.8 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 17.7 | 0.7 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 244 | 9.2 | 13% |
| Mischief | 225.7 | 8.6 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 0.2 | 81% |
| Administration of justice violations | 95 | 3.6 | 49% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 19.3 | 0.7 | 27% |
| Drug violations | 13 | 0.5 | 33% |
| Impaired driving | 94.7 | 3.6 | 40% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.04 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Enfield comes 24th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | King Ontario | 29,077 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 22 | Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Quebec | 26,786 | 53.7 | 69.5 | B |
| 23 | Saint-Lin--Laurentides Quebec | 26,673 | 54 | 93.4 | B |
| 24 | Enfield Nova Scotia | 26,960 | 55.1 | 63.4 | B |
| 25 | Thetford Mines Quebec | 27,155 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| 26 | Beamsville Ontario | 28,356 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 27 | Collingwood Ontario | 28,366 | 57.8 | 66.4 | B |
| 28 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Kingston Nova Scotia | 24,574 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | 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 Enfield in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 330 violent incidents a year across the police area of 27,000 residents that includes Enfield, 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 700 property crimes, plus 370 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
From 2023 to 2025, Enfield’s index held steady
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 57.2 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 51.9. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Enfield | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 56.1 | 60 |
| 2024 | 51.9 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 57.2 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Enfield, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Enfield
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enfield | 26,960 | 55.1 | 63.4 | B |
| Stewiacke (23 km) | 1,786 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| Halifax (38 km) | 516,822 | 71.4 | 94.3 | — |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C (41 km) | 14,211 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| Millbrook 27 (41 km) | 1,122 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| Windsor (42 km) | 20,318 | 78.5 | 98.5 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Enfield.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Enfield with figures are 23–42 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- 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. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Enfield together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
Questions about safety in Enfield
Is Enfield safe?
Enfield’s Crime Severity Index is 55.1 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 12.4 violent incidents and 26.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 66.
What is the most common crime in Enfield?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (9.2 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 8.6, and other Criminal Code offences, at 7.7, follow.
Is crime going up in Enfield?
The index stayed close to where it was, 57.2 in 2023 and 56.1 in 2025.
How much of Enfield’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 56% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 32% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Enfield 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).