Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime in Hatchet Lake sits close to 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. Across all the graded crimes, Hatchet Lake lands on C+ (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. 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+. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 31%, where the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ manages 38%.
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. Shared with the rest of the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area: crime severity and crime rate.
The grade: C+ for Hatchet Lake
How sure: Less sure than most, because no figure exists for Hatchet Lake 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.
Which crimes make up Halifax Metropolitan Area’s figures
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.
Hatchet Lake’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (73.5) and 2025 the trough (68.7). Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Hatchet Lake | 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 Hatchet Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Hatchet Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hatchet Lake | 9,930 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Harrietsfield | 6,786 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Timberlea | 11,014 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westmount | 23,207 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| South End | 22,012 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Fairview | 16,296 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
Sharing its police with 6 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- City-wide figures. The figures for Hatchet Lake are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in Hatchet Lake
Is Hatchet Lake safe?
With 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Hatchet Lake 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 Hatchet Lake?
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 Hatchet Lake?
Barely: 71.9 in 2023, 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Hatchet Lake’s crime do police solve?
31%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 49% and non-violent crime at 20%.
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).