Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Inuvik has more crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
Its Safety Grade is D−, on crime the police covering Inuvik reported from 2023 to 2025: #2,561 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Year on year, 168.0 violent incidents and 436.5 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Violence accounts for an index of 807.9 and other offences for 688.6, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Inuvik detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Inuvik
Mischief: high for a town its size
Inuvik records 378.3 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 ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Inuvik stands 40th, the lowest first. 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 Inuvik’s D− 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.
Its place: #2,561 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.
Crime in Inuvik, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Inuvik runs highest on mischief (378.3 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (29.5 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (115.6 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 2.9 | 44% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 13.3 | 4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.6 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.9 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.7 | 1.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 30 | 9.1 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 13 | 3.9 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 112.3 | 33.9 | 18% |
| Mischief | 1,253 | 378.3 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 12.7 | 3.8 | 45% |
| Administration of justice violations | 150.3 | 45.4 | 59% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 41 | 12.4 | 20% |
| Drug violations | 97.7 | 29.5 | 6% |
| Impaired driving | 118.3 | 35.8 | 20% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
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.
By its index, Inuvik stands 40th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Quebec | 3,400 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Division No. 19, Unorganized Manitoba | 3,324 | 419.5 | 614.9 | D− |
| 38 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 535.8 | 507.9 | D− |
| 39 | Rankin Inlet Nunavut | 3,336 | 538.5 | 858.4 | D− |
| 40 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 718.3 | 807.9 | 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 Inuvik in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Inuvik is part of, 3,340 residents, recorded about 560 violent incidents a year (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 1,450 property crimes, plus 970 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Inuvik’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 829.4, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2023, came in at 644.8. 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 | Inuvik | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 680.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 829.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 644.8 | 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 Inuvik, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Inuvik
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inuvik | 3,337 | 718.3 | 807.9 | D− |
| Tuktoyaktuk (124 km) | 1,026 | 663.4 | 780.6 | D− |
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer place has figures: this one lies 124 km from Inuvik.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- Small numbers. About 3,337 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Inuvik 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 cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Inuvik
Is Inuvik safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Inuvik’s Crime Severity Index stands at 718.3 for 2023–2025. Its police record 168 violent incidents and 436.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Inuvik?
Mischief is the most common, at 378.3 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (224.7) and assault (115.6).
Is crime going up in Inuvik?
Up 6%: 644.8 in 2023, 680.8 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Inuvik’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 30% of crime (50% of violent crime, 20% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Inuvik together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).