Photo: Elviroyage · CC BY 4.0For recorded crime, Lunenburg sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Overall, it grades B− for safety (#6 of 88 in Nova Scotia). Violence accounts for an index of 76.8 and other offences for 58.1, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. Its police logs show 15.1 violent incidents and 26.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.0 and 30.5. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 25%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%.
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-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Lunenburg County detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Lunenburg
Mischief: high for a town its size
Lunenburg records 9 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Lunenburg is 28th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Close to Nova Scotia’s typical town
Set among Nova Scotia’s towns, whose median is 71.4, Lunenburg scores 63.1. 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.
What’s behind Lunenburg’s grade
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: #6 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #951 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Lunenburg, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Lunenburg runs highest on mischief (9 per 1,000 against 3.7) and fraud (6 per 1,000 against 5.1). Theft under $5,000 and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 11.3 | 0.3 | 42% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 8 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 13 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Breaking and entering | 100.7 | 2.4 | 11% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 43.7 | 1 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 21.3 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 302.3 | 7.1 | 17% |
| Mischief | 380.3 | 9 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 12.7 | 0.3 | 50% |
| Administration of justice violations | 144.7 | 3.4 | 43% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 57.7 | 1.4 | 21% |
| Drug violations | 40.3 | 1 | 15% |
| Impaired driving | 184.3 | 4.4 | 35% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 5.3 | 0.1 | 6% |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Lunenburg is 28th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Enfield Nova Scotia | 26,960 | 55.1 | 63.4 | B |
| 25 | Thetford Mines Quebec | 27,155 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| 26 | Beamsville Ontario | 28,356 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 27 | Collingwood Ontario | 28,366 | 57.8 | 66.4 | B |
| 28 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 29 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| 30 | Kingston Nova Scotia | 24,574 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 31 | Amherstburg Ontario | 27,509 | 78.6 | 94.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Lunenburg in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 640 violent incidents a year across the police area of 42,400 residents that includes Lunenburg, 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.
Add about 1,120 property crimes and 630 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
In Lunenburg, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 63.8 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2024, at 61.6. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lunenburg | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 61.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 63.8 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Lunenburg, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Lunenburg
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunenburg | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| Bridgewater | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| Lunenburg | 2,523 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
2 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
- What the index measures. 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.”
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Lunenburg’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Lunenburg
Is Lunenburg safe?
The short answer is an index of 63.1 for Lunenburg (2023–2025), built from 15.1 violent incidents and 26.5 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Lunenburg?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 9, other Criminal Code offences at 8 and theft under $5,000 at 7.1, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Lunenburg?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 63.8 to 63.8.
How much of Lunenburg’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 25%: 44% for violent crime and 15% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Lunenburg and everywhere else it polices.
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).