Photo: Timkal · CC BY-SA 3.0Arctic Bay sees more crime per resident than 95% of Canadian towns
Year on year, 80.1 violent incidents and 179.3 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. On top of that, its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Arctic Bay reported from 2023 to 2025. Violence accounts for an index of 513.3 and other offences for 199.1, against usual levels of 86.4 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. The crime severity, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Arctic Bay detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Arctic Bay
Mischief: high for a town its size
Arctic Bay records 160.7 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 ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Arctic Bay’s police clear 64%, 65% of violent crime and 60% of the rest. Questions ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Arctic Bay’s index splits into violent crime, 513.3 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 199.1 against 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 Arctic Bay’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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What police record in Arctic Bay, by type
Against the typical town its size, Arctic Bay runs highest on mischief (160.7 per 1,000 against 4.2), assault (52 per 1,000 against 6.7) and break and enter (7.4 per 1,000 against 2.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.3 | 3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.3 | 3.8 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.9 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 8.3 | 7.4 | 48% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4.7 | 4.1 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 5 | 4.4 | 40% |
| Mischief | 181.3 | 160.7 | 65% |
| Weapons violations | 1.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 12 | 10.6 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Drug violations | 0.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 8.7 | 7.7 | 31% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 90 violent incidents a year across the police area of 1,130 residents that includes Arctic Bay, 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 200 property crimes, plus 96 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Three years of Arctic Bay’s crime index
Crime Severity Index
2025, the last year shown, came out highest at 387.6, and 2024 lowest at 210.6. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Arctic Bay | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 387.6 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 210.6 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 263.1 | 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 Arctic Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Arctic Bay together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Few people behind the figures. The police behind these figures serve about 1,126 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in Arctic Bay
Is Arctic Bay safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 287.1 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more: that is where Arctic Bay stands, with 80.1 violent and 179.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Arctic Bay?
Mischief is the most common, at 160.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (76.2) and assault (52).
Is crime going up in Arctic Bay?
Yes: the index rose 47%, from 263.1 in 2023 to 387.6 in 2025. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Arctic Bay’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 64%: 65% for violent crime and 60% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Arctic Bay 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).