Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Westville records more crime than 70% of Canadian towns
Typical years here bring 21.1 violent incidents plus 43.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.9 plus 31.2 in the typical town its size. Nova Scotia’s towns sit around 71.4, midway up their range. Graded on crime the police covering Westville reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores C for safety: #68 of 88 in Nova Scotia. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 84.1 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size.
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 Westville
Mischief: high for a town its size
Westville records 10.9 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 ↓
The non-violent half stands out
Westville’s index splits into violent crime, 65 here and 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 92.4 against 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Westville stands 28th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
A low clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Westville’s police clear 19%, 42% of violent crime and 12% of the rest. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C for Westville
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: #68 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,764 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.
What police record in Westville, by type
Against the typical town its size, Westville runs highest on mischief (10.9 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (7.3 per 1,000 against 4.9) and theft under $5,000 (18 per 1,000 against 14.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 10.7 | 2.9 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8.7 | 2.3 | 26% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 67 | 18 | 4% |
| Mischief | 40.3 | 10.9 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 25.7 | 6.9 | 58% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.7 | 1.8 | 4% |
| Drug violations | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Impaired driving | 6.3 | 1.7 | 43% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Westville places 28th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Baie-D'Urfé Quebec | 3,706 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 26 | Killarney Manitoba | 3,708 | 81.4 | 71.7 | C |
| 27 | Bright New Brunswick | 3,648 | 81.7 | 78.9 | C |
| 28 | Westville Nova Scotia | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| 29 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 3,806 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 30 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 86 | 92.8 | C |
| 31 | Maniwaki Quebec | 3,803 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cowichan Bay British Columbia | 3,713 | 131.7 | 149.7 | 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 Westville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Westville’s police: about 78 violent incidents a year over 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 160 property crimes, plus 70 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Westville’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
Of the years charted, 2025 weighed most (101.5) and 2024 least (67.6). The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Westville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 101.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 67.6 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 83.1 | 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 Westville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Westville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westville | 3,731 | 84.1 | 65 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | 6,482 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Stellarton | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| New Glasgow | 10,378 | 128.5 | 146.4 | D |
| Trenton | 2,499 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C | 8,847 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| Pictou | 3,307 | 126.6 | 152.7 | D |
Of 6 places nearby with their own figures, 3 come in under Westville. Pictou County, Subdivision B, 3.8 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 83.9 to 84.1.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Read with care. With roughly 3,731 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.”
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- 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. 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 Westville
Is Westville safe?
Statistics Canada puts Westville at 84.1 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 21.1 and property crimes at 43 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Westville?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 18 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (12.7) and mischief (10.9).
Is crime going up in Westville?
Yes: the index rose 22%, from 83.1 in 2023 to 101.5 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Westville’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 19%: 42% for violent crime and 12% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Westville’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).