Photo: William Booth · Public domainShelburne has more crime per resident than 70% of Canadian towns
A Safety Grade of C follows from crime the police covering Shelburne reported over the years 2023 to 2025. On top of that, for every 1,000 residents, 18.8 violent incidents and 24.3 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, the figures are 12.0 and 31.2. Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 118.8 and 69.7. Steady over the three years, the index read 83.3 in 2023 and 80.3 in 2025.
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. The crime severity, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Shelburne detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Shelburne
Mischief: high for a town its size
Shelburne records 9.4 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Close to Nova Scotia’s typical town
The typical Nova Scotia town scores 71.4; Shelburne, 83.2. 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 sits behind Shelburne’s C
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Which crimes make up Shelburne’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Shelburne runs highest on mischief (9.4 per 1,000 against 4.2), break and enter (3.6 per 1,000 against 2.5) and assault (8.1 per 1,000 against 6.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 18.3 | 3.6 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 11 | 2.2 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 18 | 3.6 | 17% |
| Mischief | 47.3 | 9.4 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.6 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 27 | 5.4 | 52% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.3 | 1.5 | 27% |
| Drug violations | 8 | 1.6 | 16% |
| Impaired driving | 27.3 | 5.4 | 38% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
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 2,500 people or more.
About 95 violent incidents a year across the police area of 5,030 residents that includes Shelburne, 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 120 property crimes and 96 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Shelburne, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 86.1, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 80.3. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Shelburne | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 80.3 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 86.1 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 83.3 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Shelburne, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Shelburne
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelburne | 1,797 | 83.2 | 118.8 | C |
| Shelburne (4 km) | 4,542 | 83.2 | 118.8 | C |
| Barrington (39 km) | 6,720 | 76.1 | 96.9 | C+ |
| Argyle (47 km) | 8,216 | 52.1 | 68.3 | B+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Shelburne. Barrington, 38.8 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 76.1 to 83.2. The comparison skips one neighbour reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Shelburne with figures are 4–47 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. 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.
- 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Shelburne is one part.
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Shelburne
Is Shelburne safe?
Shelburne scores 83.2 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 18.8 violent incidents and 24.3 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Shelburne?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (9.9 per 1,000 residents a year); mischief, at 9.4, and assault, at 8.1, follow.
Is crime going up in Shelburne?
Not much: the index went from 83.3 in 2023 to 80.3 in 2025.
How much of Shelburne’s crime do police solve?
About 34% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 59% of violent and 17% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Shelburne 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).