Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainLawrencetown sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
About 31% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Weighing it all, Lawrencetown 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. 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. Source area for crime severity and crime rate: the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area.
What sits behind Lawrencetown’s C+
How sure: Less sure than most, because no figure exists for Lawrencetown 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.
Crime across Halifax Metropolitan Area, 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.
In Lawrencetown, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 73.5; 2025 was lightest, at 68.7. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lawrencetown | 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 Lawrencetown, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Lawrencetown
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrencetown | 3,509 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| East Preston | 2,573 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Lake Echo | 5,223 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| East Lawrencetown | 4,020 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
Its police also cover 6 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Not the neighbourhood’s own. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Lawrencetown carries the city-wide figures.
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Lawrencetown
Is Lawrencetown safe?
Lawrencetown 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 Lawrencetown?
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 Lawrencetown?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 71.9 to 68.7.
How much of Lawrencetown’s crime do police solve?
About 31% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 49% of violent and 20% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ is 38%.
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).