Photo: ProjectHorizons · CC BY-SA 4.0For recorded crime, Eastern Passage sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 94.3 and its non-violent half to 62.8, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Weighing it all, Eastern Passage earns C+ for safety (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ they are 10.8 and 25.1. The index held steady between 2023 (71.9) and 2025 (68.7).
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. Area-wide: crime severity and crime rate, counted over the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area.
What’s behind Eastern Passage’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most, because no figure exists for Eastern Passage on its own; the city’s, for its whole area, stands in.
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.
What Halifax Metropolitan Area’s police record, 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.
Eastern Passage, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 73.5, with 2025 the lightest at 68.7. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Eastern Passage | 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 Eastern Passage, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Eastern Passage
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Passage | 10,745 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Schmidtville | 18,105 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
6 places nearby are policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. 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.
- 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.”
- One figure for the city. Its city publishes no open neighbourhood crime figures, so every figure for Eastern Passage is the city police’s, for the whole city.
Questions about safety in Eastern Passage
Is Eastern Passage safe?
Its police recorded 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Eastern Passage 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 Eastern Passage?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (24 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 8, and assault, at 6.7, follow.
Is crime going up in Eastern Passage?
The index stayed close to where it was, 71.9 in 2023 and 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Eastern Passage’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 49% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 31% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the 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).