Photo: Paulo O from Halifax, Canada · CC BY 2.0For recorded crime, Woodlawn sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Woodlawn’s overall Safety Grade is C+ (#17 of 88 in Nova Scotia): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 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. For every 1,000 residents, 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, the figures are 10.8 and 25.1. The index held steady between 2023 (71.9) and 2025 (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. Area behind the crime severity and crime rate figures: the Halifax Metropolitan Area service area.
The C+ for Woodlawn, and how it is built
How sure: Not as firm as most grades, since the figure covers the entire city rather than Woodlawn alone.
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.
Woodlawn, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 73.5, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in 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 | Woodlawn | 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 Woodlawn, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Woodlawn
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlawn | 20,925 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Manor Park | 14,148 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Portland Estates | 10,164 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Westphal | 4,201 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Austinville | 28,021 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| Cole Harbour | 21,627 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
| North End | 19,733 | 71.4 | 94.3 | C+ |
6 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- City-wide figures. The figures for Woodlawn are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Woodlawn
Is Woodlawn safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Woodlawn’s Crime Severity Index stands at 71.4 for 2023–2025. Its police record 13.8 violent incidents and 37.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Woodlawn?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 24, other Criminal Code offences at 8 and assault at 6.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Woodlawn?
The index stayed close to where it was, 71.9 in 2023 and 68.7 in 2025.
How much of Woodlawn’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?
Those of the police service that covers 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).