Photo: WayeMason · CC BY-SA 3.0Police-reported crime in Halifax weighs 18% more than in the typical Canadian town its size
Across 2023 to 2025 the index held steady, 71.9 to 68.7. Violence accounts for an index of 94.3 and other offences for 62.8, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2. The yearly rates were 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. By contrast, its 6 neighbours with figures all record more crime per resident.
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.
What stands out about safety in Halifax
Theft under $5,000: high for a town its size
Halifax records 24 incidents of theft under $5,000 per 1,000 residents a year, against 11.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
About the Nova Scotia norm
The typical Nova Scotia town scores 71.4; Halifax, 71.4. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Before the grade: Halifax’s figures
There is no grade here yet, because Canada’s towns will be graded together once all their data has been checked.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
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’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Halifax 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 its own. 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.
Halifax, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 73.5, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 68.7. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Halifax | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Halifax, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Police in Halifax recorded about 6,980 violent incidents a year, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Property crime adds about 18,900 a year and other violations 5,560 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Halifax
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | 516,822 | 71.4 | 94.3 | — |
| Austinville | 28,021 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Windsor Park | 13,044 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| North End | 19,733 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Fairview | 16,296 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Woodlawn | 20,925 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
The places around Halifax all score higher on the index.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- An index, not a verdict. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. 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 Halifax
Is Halifax safe?
With 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Halifax 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 Halifax?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 24 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 8 and assault at 6.7.
Is crime going up in Halifax?
Not much: the index went from 71.9 in 2023 to 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Halifax’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 31% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (38% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 49% of violent and 20% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Halifax alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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). 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).