Photo: Coastal Elite from Halifax, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Cole Harbour sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Typical years here bring 13.8 violent incidents plus 37.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 10.8 plus 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Across 2023 to 2025 the index held steady, 71.9 to 68.7. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia). Violence accounts for an index of 94.3 and other offences for 62.8, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2.
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 and crime rate: the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area.
What’s behind Cole Harbour’s grade
How sure: Not as firm as most grades, since the figure covers the entire city rather than Cole Harbour alone.
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: #17 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,398 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Halifax Metropolitan Area’s crime, type by type
These are Halifax Metropolitan Area’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Halifax Metropolitan Area runs highest on theft under $5,000 (24 per 1,000 against 11.5), robbery (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4) and assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9). Drug offences and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 9.7 | 0.02 | 65% |
| Sexual violations against children | 124.7 | 0.2 | 34% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 232.7 | 0.5 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 44.7 | 0.09 | 51% |
| Robbery | 289.7 | 0.6 | 48% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 59 | 0.1 | 92% |
| Other violent violations | 151.3 | 0.3 | 48% |
| Breaking and entering | 920.7 | 1.8 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 123 | 0.2 | 70% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 462.3 | 0.9 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 200.3 | 0.4 | 17% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 12,134 | 24 | 12% |
| Mischief | 2,574 | 5.1 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 299.3 | 0.6 | 44% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,638.3 | 5.2 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 437.3 | 0.9 | 43% |
| Drug violations | 335.7 | 0.7 | 37% |
| Impaired driving | 773.7 | 1.5 | 88% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 36 | 0.07 | 24% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
Cole Harbour, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 73.5, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in at 68.7. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cole Harbour | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 68.7 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 73.5 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 71.9 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Cole Harbour, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Cole Harbour
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Woodlawn | 20,925 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Eastern Passage | 10,745 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
The table leaves out 6 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The whole city’s numbers. Its city publishes no open neighbourhood crime figures, so every figure for Cole Harbour is the city police’s, for the whole city.
Questions about safety in Cole Harbour
Is Cole Harbour safe?
Its police recorded 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Cole Harbour a Crime Severity Index of 71.4. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Cole Harbour?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 24 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (8) and assault (6.7).
Is crime going up in Cole Harbour?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 71.9 to 68.7.
How much of Cole Harbour’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 31% of crime (49% of violent crime, 20% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ clears 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city police’s, as reported for the whole city.
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).