Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, New Glasgow records more crime than 88% of Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 146.4 and 122.5. Its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering New Glasgow reported from 2023 to 2025: #85 of 88 in Nova Scotia. In a usual year, 33.8 violent incidents and 60.5 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.0 and 30.5. Each of the 6 towns on its borders with figures records less 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 New Glasgow
Mischief: high for a town its size
New Glasgow records 13.5 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 ↓
Heavier than Nova Scotia’s middle
The typical Nova Scotia town scores 71.4; New Glasgow, 128.5. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, New Glasgow comes 35th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, New Glasgow’s two halves part ways: 146.4 for violence (typical 89.4) and 122.5 for the rest (typical 56). By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind New Glasgow’s D
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: #85 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,309 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.
New Glasgow’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, New Glasgow runs highest on mischief (13.5 per 1,000 against 3.7), theft under $5,000 (29.5 per 1,000 against 11.8) and assault (15.4 per 1,000 against 6.6).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 0.4 | 58% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 12 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 5 | 0.4 | 40% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 8.7 | 0.7 | 49% |
| Breaking and entering | 45.3 | 3.6 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 19 | 1.5 | 51% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 32.3 | 2.5 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8 | 0.6 | 16% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 376.3 | 29.5 | 30% |
| Mischief | 172 | 13.5 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 11.7 | 0.9 | 40% |
| Administration of justice violations | 185.3 | 14.5 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 41.7 | 3.3 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 15 | 1.2 | 31% |
| Impaired driving | 66.3 | 5.2 | 58% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
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.
New Glasgow is 35th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 10,637 | 52.1 | 68.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 77.2 | 99.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Temiskaming Shores Ontario | 10,144 | 78.8 | 97.1 | C |
| 33 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 84.8 | 74.7 | C |
| 34 | Kitimat British Columbia | 10,019 | 100.8 | 107.1 | C− |
| 35 | New Glasgow Nova Scotia | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| 36 | Hinton Alberta | 10,124 | 137.3 | 109.5 | D |
| 37 | Whitecourt Alberta | 10,708 | 146.3 | 128.4 | D |
| 38 | Amherst Nova Scotia | 10,072 | 149.6 | 131.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Wheatland County Alberta | 10,150 | 298.8 | 486.4 | 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 New Glasgow in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 430 violent incidents a year on New Glasgow’s police records (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.
And about 770 property crimes, plus 430 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
New Glasgow’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 134.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 117.6 in 2024. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 69.5 (2023), then 60 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | New Glasgow | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 133 | 60 |
| 2024 | 117.6 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 134.9 | 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 New Glasgow, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around New Glasgow
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Glasgow | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| Trenton | 2,499 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Stellarton | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| Westville | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C | 8,847 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | 6,482 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou | 3,307 | 126.6 | 152.7 | D |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than New Glasgow. Closest is Trenton, 2.7 km away, at 83.9 to 128.5 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- 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.”
Questions about safety in New Glasgow
Is New Glasgow safe?
Police-reported crime in New Glasgow scores 128.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 33.8 violent incidents and 60.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in New Glasgow?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (29.5 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 22.1, and assault, at 15.4, follow.
Is crime going up in New Glasgow?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 134.9 to 133.
How much of New Glasgow’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 41% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 58% of violent crime and 32% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are New Glasgow’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).