Photo: Ann Baekken · CC BY 2.0Stellarton has more crime per resident than 85% of Canadian towns
Counting crime the police covering Stellarton reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #83 of 88 in Nova Scotia. In a usual year, 29.8 violent incidents and 51.7 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 97.1 and 125.3. Among its 6 neighbours with figures, 4 record 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 Stellarton
Mischief: high for a town its size
Stellarton records 13.1 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Nova Scotia
Stellarton’s index of 116.6 compares with 71.4 for the typical town in Nova Scotia. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Stellarton places 32nd from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Stellarton’s two halves part ways: 97.1 for violence (typical 85.7) and 125.3 for the rest (typical 62.8). 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’s behind Stellarton’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: #83 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,227 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Stellarton’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Stellarton runs highest on mischief (13.1 per 1,000 against 4.9), assault (12.5 per 1,000 against 6.7) and fraud (7.9 per 1,000 against 4.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 18 | 4.3 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6 | 1.4 | 62% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12.3 | 2.9 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5 | 1.2 | 14% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 88.3 | 20.9 | 20% |
| Mischief | 55.3 | 13.1 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 1.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 47.7 | 11.3 | 76% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.7 | 1.8 | 30% |
| Drug violations | 2.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Impaired driving | 14.3 | 3.4 | 51% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.08 | — |
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 to 10,000 people.
Stellarton is 32nd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Richmond County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 4,305 | 65.2 | 90.1 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Victoria County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 4,258 | 82.8 | 120.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| 30 | Prescott Ontario | 4,342 | 111.5 | 167.1 | C− |
| 31 | Napierville Quebec | 4,187 | 116.5 | 80.3 | C− |
| 32 | Stellarton Nova Scotia | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| 33 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 119.1 | 253 | C− |
| 34 | Northern Lights County Alberta | 4,115 | 119.8 | 132.1 | C− |
| 35 | Ormstown Quebec | 4,259 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Stellarton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 130 violent incidents a year reached Stellarton’s police, 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 220 property crimes, plus 150 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Stellarton’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (124.3) and 2025 the trough (108.3). For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Stellarton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 108.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 124.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 117 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Stellarton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Stellarton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellarton | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| New Glasgow | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| Westville | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| Trenton | 2,499 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | 6,482 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C | 8,847 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou | 3,307 | 126.6 | 152.7 | D |
Nearby, 4 of 6 places with their own figures have a lower index than Stellarton. Closest is Westville, 4.2 km away, at 84.1 to 116.6 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Small numbers. With roughly 4,251 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
Questions about safety in Stellarton
Is Stellarton safe?
Stellarton scores 116.6 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 29.8 violent incidents and 51.7 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Stellarton?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 21.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 20.9 and mischief at 13.1.
Is crime going up in Stellarton?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 7%, to 108.3 from 117. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Stellarton’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 29% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 46% of violent crime and 24% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Stellarton and nowhere else.
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).