Photo: CambridgeBayWeather · Public domainCambridge Bay sees more crime per resident than almost any other Canadian town
From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Cambridge Bay reported put it at D− for safety. For solved cases, the weighted rate is 41%, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ manages 34%. Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 1,047 and 470.4. Police counts work out at 217.6 violent incidents and 398.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ they are 12.0 and 31.2.
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: one figure for all of the Cambridge Bay detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Cambridge Bay
Mischief: high for a town its size
Cambridge Bay records 356.5 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 ↓
Heavier on violence
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Cambridge Bay’s two halves part ways: 1,047 for violence (typical 86.4) and 470.4 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.
The D− for Cambridge Bay, and how it is built
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.
Cambridge Bay’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Cambridge Bay runs highest on mischief (356.5 per 1,000 against 4.2), assault (152.6 per 1,000 against 6.7) and drug offences (11.6 per 1,000 against 0.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9 | 4.6 | 63% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 10.7 | 5.5 | 93% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3 | 1.5 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 23 | 11.8 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.3 | 5.3 | 36% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 30 | 15.4 | 24% |
| Mischief | 696.3 | 356.5 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 4 | 2.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 64 | 32.7 | 67% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14 | 7.2 | 48% |
| Drug violations | 22.3 | 11.6 | 17% |
| Impaired driving | 46.7 | 23.9 | 13% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 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 people or more.
Around 420 violent incidents a year in the 1,930-resident police area around Cambridge 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.
Property crime adds about 780 a year and other violations 300 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
The index in Cambridge Bay, each year
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 862.4; the lightest was 2023, at 481.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cambridge Bay | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 862.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 549.7 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 481.5 | 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 Cambridge Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Cambridge Bay is one part.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- 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. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Read with care. The police behind these figures serve about 1,931 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 Cambridge Bay
Is Cambridge Bay safe?
Cambridge Bay measures 631.2 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 217.6 violent incidents and 398.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Cambridge Bay?
Most often it is mischief: 356.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 152.6 and other Criminal Code offences at 116.4.
Is crime going up in Cambridge Bay?
Up 79%: 481.5 in 2023, 862.4 in 2025. The police area is small or partly reported, so treat the change with care.
How much of Cambridge Bay’s crime do police solve?
About 41% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 61% of violent and 23% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Cambridge Bay 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).