Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHarrietsfield is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Recorded violent incidents ran at 13.8 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 37.3, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia). Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 94.3 and 62.8. 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. Crime severity and crime rate published for the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area, not by town.
What’s behind Harrietsfield’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most, because no figure exists for Harrietsfield 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.
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), assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and mischief (5.1 per 1,000 against 3.8). Break and enter 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.
Harrietsfield, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 73.5, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest 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 | Harrietsfield | 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 Harrietsfield, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Harrietsfield
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrietsfield | 6,786 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Hatchet Lake | 9,930 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| South End | 22,012 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westmount | 23,207 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Schmidtville | 18,105 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| North End | 19,733 | 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 clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The whole city’s numbers. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Harrietsfield carries the city-wide figures.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Harrietsfield
Is Harrietsfield safe?
Harrietsfield scores 71.4 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Harrietsfield?
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 Harrietsfield?
The index stayed close to where it was, 71.9 in 2023 and 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Harrietsfield’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 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).