Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainGaetz Brook sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Out of every 1,000 residents, 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Weighing it all, Gaetz Brook 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. Its violent half comes to 94.3 and its non-violent half to 62.8, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Across 2023 to 2025 the index held steady, 71.9 to 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. Measured across the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area: crime severity and crime rate.
What’s behind Gaetz Brook’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most. The grade rests on a figure for the whole city, so Gaetz Brook’s own streets could sit well above or below it.
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), assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and mischief (5.1 per 1,000 against 3.8). Break and enter sits 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.
Gaetz Brook, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 73.5; 2025 was the lightest, at 68.7. In the same years the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Gaetz Brook | 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 Gaetz Brook, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Gaetz Brook
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaetz Brook | 4,473 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| East Lawrencetown | 4,020 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Lake Echo | 5,223 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Musquodoboit Harbour | 2,719 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| East Preston | 2,573 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
6 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One figure for the city. Its city publishes no open neighbourhood crime figures, so every figure for Gaetz Brook is the city police’s, for the whole city.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Gaetz Brook
Is Gaetz Brook safe?
With 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Gaetz Brook comes to 71.4 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Gaetz Brook?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 24 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (8) and assault (6.7).
Is crime going up in Gaetz Brook?
Barely: 71.9 in 2023, 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Gaetz Brook’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 31% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 49% of violent crime and 20% of the rest, 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).