Photo: Sebastian Kasten · CC BY-SA 3.0Iqaluit has more crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
In 2023 the index stood at 691.6; it fell to 640.2 in 2025. Violence accounts for an index of 844 and other offences for 593.8, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. The Safety Grade comes out at D−, drawn from crime the police covering Iqaluit reported through 2023 to 2025: #2,561 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Year on year, 166.3 violent incidents and 485.4 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical 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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Iqaluit detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Iqaluit
Mischief: high for a town its size
Iqaluit records 424 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
Counting up from the lowest index, Iqaluit is 40th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Iqaluit’s police clear 44%, 62% of violent crime and 33% 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.
What’s behind Iqaluit’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.
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.
What police record in Iqaluit, by type
Against the typical town its size, Iqaluit runs highest on mischief (424 per 1,000 against 4.9), assault (122 per 1,000 against 6.7) and sexual assault (9 per 1,000 against 0.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 27.7 | 3.3 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 31 | 3.7 | 93% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 19 | 2.3 | 74% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 8 | 0.9 | 84% |
| Other violent violations | 14 | 1.7 | 38% |
| Breaking and entering | 161 | 19 | 31% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 1.1 | 55% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 31.3 | 3.7 | 29% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 10 | 1.2 | 37% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 249 | 29.3 | 29% |
| Mischief | 3,583 | 424 | 33% |
| Weapons violations | 27.7 | 3.3 | 46% |
| Administration of justice violations | 353.7 | 41.7 | 68% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 55.7 | 6.6 | 56% |
| Drug violations | 51.7 | 6.1 | 22% |
| Impaired driving | 116 | 13.7 | 42% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
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.
Iqaluit comes 40th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Grande Cache Alberta | 8,984 | 160.6 | 210.5 | D |
| 38 | Lac la Biche County Alberta | 8,580 | 296.3 | 359.4 | D− |
| 39 | Dauphin Manitoba | 8,587 | 305.3 | 402.1 | D− |
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Iqaluit in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
8,610 residents, about 1,410 violent incidents a year: the police area Iqaluit belongs to, 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 4,100 property crimes and 2,470 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Iqaluit, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 691.6 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 640.2. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Iqaluit | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 640.2 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 652 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 691.6 | 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 Iqaluit, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- 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.”
- Town and surroundings together. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Iqaluit’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in Iqaluit
Is Iqaluit safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Iqaluit comes to 661.3. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 166.3 violent incidents and 485.4 property crimes. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Iqaluit?
The three biggest groups are mischief at 424, other Criminal Code offences at 269 and assault at 122, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Iqaluit?
No: the index fell 7%, from 691.6 in 2023 to 640.2 in 2025.
How much of Iqaluit’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 44% of crime (62% of violent crime, 33% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Iqaluit 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).