Photo: chester902 · Public domainWolfville sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Its Safety Grade, C+, rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. What’s more, the local count comes to 17.1 violent incidents and 31.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. A Crime Severity Index of 72.3, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Kings County detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Wolfville
Mischief: high for a town its size
Wolfville records 10.5 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 ↓
Heavier than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Wolfville moved from 65.6 to 79.7, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Wolfville places 27th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Near the Nova Scotia middle
Wolfville’s index of 72.3 compares with 71.4 for the typical town in Nova Scotia. 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.
Inside Wolfville’s C+ for safety
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 to 10,000 people.
Wolfville’s index rose 21% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Of the years charted, 2025 weighed most (79.7) and 2023 least (65.6). For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wolfville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 71.6 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 65.6 | 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 Wolfville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Wolfville, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Wolfville runs highest on mischief (10.5 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.7) and sexual assault (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.9). 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 | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 21.7 | 0.4 | 43% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16.7 | 0.3 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 22 | 0.4 | 29% |
| Breaking and entering | 164 | 2.7 | 12% |
| Possession of stolen property | 23.3 | 0.4 | 50% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 81 | 1.3 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 25 | 0.4 | 15% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 675.3 | 11.1 | 21% |
| Mischief | 635 | 10.5 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 20.3 | 0.3 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 264.3 | 4.4 | 65% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 64 | 1.1 | 31% |
| Drug violations | 92.7 | 1.5 | 22% |
| Impaired driving | 231.7 | 3.8 | 36% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Wolfville comes 27th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havelock Ontario | 5,663 | 29.2 | 33.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Stonewall Manitoba | 5,443 | 66.3 | 59.7 | B− |
| 25 | Headingley Manitoba | 5,368 | 67 | 72.1 | B− |
| 26 | Inverness County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 5,389 | 68.4 | 80 | B− |
| 27 | Wolfville Nova Scotia | 5,587 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Shediac New Brunswick | 5,699 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 29 | Armstrong British Columbia | 5,643 | 73.6 | 83.6 | C+ |
| 30 | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Quebec | 5,393 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Annapolis County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 5,694 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 Wolfville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 1,040 violent incidents a year across the police area of 61,300 residents that includes Wolfville, 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 1,900 property crimes and 980 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Wolfville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfville | 5,587 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision D | 6,517 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision B | 12,661 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision C | 8,994 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kentville | 7,589 | 82.9 | 90.6 | C |
The comparison skips 3 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Wolfville is one part.
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. 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 Wolfville
Is Wolfville safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Wolfville’s Crime Severity Index stands at 72.3 for 2023–2025. Its police record 17.1 violent incidents and 31.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Wolfville?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 11.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (10.5) and other Criminal Code offences (9.6).
Is crime going up in Wolfville?
It went up 21% between 2023 and 2025, from 65.6 to 79.7.
How much of Wolfville’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 29% of crime (46% of violent crime, 20% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Wolfville and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).