Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Summerside records more crime per resident than 85% of Canadian towns
Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 118 in 2023 to 110.3 by 2025. Still, the grade is C−, built on crime the police covering Summerside reported from 2023 to 2025: #2,227 of 2,572 Canadian towns. Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 108.2 and 123.9. Violence and property crime split as 23.9 violent incidents and 46.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 30.5 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.
What stands out about safety in Summerside
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Summerside records 6.6 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Prince Edward Island
Within Prince Edward Island, the median town comes to 46.7 on the index, against 118.7 in Summerside. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Summerside stands 37th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Summerside’s two halves part ways: 108.2 for violence (typical 89.4) and 123.9 for the rest (typical 56). By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Summerside’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.
Its place: #2,227 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Summerside’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Summerside runs highest on break and enter (6.6 per 1,000 against 2.2), drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and mischief (8.6 per 1,000 against 3.7). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.3 | 0.5 | 28% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 14.7 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7.3 | 0.4 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 121.3 | 6.6 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 19.7 | 1.1 | 52% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 25 | 1.4 | 31% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 16% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 361.3 | 19.7 | 21% |
| Mischief | 157.7 | 8.6 | 11% |
| Weapons violations | 17 | 0.9 | 31% |
| Administration of justice violations | 162 | 8.8 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 45 | 2.4 | 28% |
| Drug violations | 41.3 | 2.3 | 29% |
| Impaired driving | 73 | 4 | 52% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
By its index, Summerside stands 37th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Stony Plain Alberta | 19,662 | 88.4 | 74.6 | C |
| 35 | Brooks Alberta | 17,537 | 91.9 | 120.8 | C |
| 36 | Swift Current Saskatchewan | 18,154 | 108.2 | 100.8 | C− |
| 37 | Summerside Prince Edward Island | 19,006 | 118.7 | 108.2 | C− |
| 38 | Yorkton Saskatchewan | 17,543 | 175.2 | 185.2 | D |
| 39 | Port Alberni British Columbia | 19,671 | 200.1 | 248.2 | D |
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | 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 Summerside in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 440 violent incidents a year reached Summerside’s police, 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 850 a year and other violations 650 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Summerside, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (127.8) and 2025 the trough (110.3). The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Summerside | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 110.3 | 60 |
| 2024 | 127.8 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 118 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Summerside, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Summerside
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerside | 19,006 | 118.7 | 108.2 | C− |
| Kensington (12 km) | 2,016 | 69.9 | 48.4 | C+ |
| New London (20 km) | 1,443 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Crapaud, Part 1 (30 km) | 1,781 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Summerside. Kensington, 12 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 69.9 to 118.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 12–30 km from Summerside.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Reading the number. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Summerside
Is Summerside safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Summerside’s Crime Severity Index stands at 118.7 for 2023–2025. Its police record 23.9 violent incidents and 46.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Summerside?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 24.2, theft under $5,000 at 19.7 and assault at 9.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Summerside?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 6%, to 110.3 from 118.
How much of Summerside’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 27% of crime (43% of violent crime, 22% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Summerside alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).