Photo: Voldeg and Bolton · Public domainCrime per resident in Melville runs higher than in 80% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure rose, 84.2 to 95.4. Split in two, the index gives 145.1 for violence and 88.6 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). Counting crime the police covering Melville reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #18 of 104 in Saskatchewan. Out of every 1,000 residents, 17.3 violent incidents and 38.8 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Melville detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Melville
Mischief: high for a town its size
Melville records 14.1 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 Melville stands 33rd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 51% of Melville’s crime, weighted by seriousness (81% of violent crime, 32% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Much like Saskatchewan’s towns
Within Saskatchewan, the median town comes to 118.6 on the index, against 104.2 in Melville. 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.
The grade: C− for Melville
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: #18 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #1,949 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.
Melville’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Melville runs highest on mischief (14.1 per 1,000 against 4.9), break and enter (5.3 per 1,000 against 2.8) and drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.7). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7.3 | 0.8 | 78% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 51.3 | 5.3 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 13.7 | 1.4 | 39% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 22.7 | 2.3 | 40% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 84.7 | 8.7 | 23% |
| Mischief | 137 | 14.1 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 7.3 | 0.8 | 86% |
| Administration of justice violations | 83.3 | 8.6 | 85% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13.3 | 1.4 | 60% |
| Drug violations | 12.7 | 1.3 | 31% |
| Impaired driving | 33.7 | 3.5 | 56% |
| 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 to 10,000 people.
Melville is 33rd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | White City Saskatchewan | 4,379 | 52.8 | 60.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Shippagan New Brunswick | 4,721 | 80.3 | 100.6 | C |
| 31 | Shelburne Nova Scotia | 4,542 | 83.2 | 118.8 | C |
| 32 | Cumberland County, Subdivision D Nova Scotia | 4,692 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| 33 | Melville Saskatchewan | 4,547 | 104.2 | 145.1 | C− |
| 34 | Vanderhoof British Columbia | 4,545 | 126.5 | 178.5 | D |
| 35 | Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 4,482 | 131.7 | 149.7 | D |
| 36 | Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona British Columbia | 4,546 | 166.3 | 162.8 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 349.1 | 479.8 | 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 Melville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Melville, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (132.9) and 2023 the trough (84.2). For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Melville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 95.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 132.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 84.2 | 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 Melville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Melville is part of, 9,730 residents, recorded about 170 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.
Property crime adds about 380 a year and other violations 230 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Melville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melville | 4,547 | 104.2 | 145.1 | C− |
| Orkney No. 244 (30 km) | 1,957 | 57.7 | 50.6 | B |
| Yorkton (39 km) | 17,543 | 175.2 | 185.2 | D |
| Grenfell (59 km) | 1,203 | 163.5 | 272.2 | D |
| Esterhazy (60 km) | 2,513 | 66.4 | 84.4 | B− |
| Fort Qu'Appelle (72 km) | 2,247 | 166.6 | 212 | D |
Nearby, 2 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Melville. Orkney No. 244, 30.3 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 57.7 to 104.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 30–72 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Melville.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- 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 Melville’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in Melville
Is Melville safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Melville comes to 104.2. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 17.3 violent incidents and 38.8 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 Melville?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 16.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (14.1) and theft under $5,000 (8.7).
Is crime going up in Melville?
Up 13%: 84.2 in 2023, 95.4 in 2025.
How much of Melville’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 81% of violent crime and 32% of everything else, 51% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Melville 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).