Photo: Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Dawson than in 94% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 243.9 and other offences for 202.3, against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8. Its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Dawson reported from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 54.4 violent incidents and 107.0 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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Dawson detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Dawson
Mischief: high for a town its size
Dawson records 57.5 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 ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: D for Dawson
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 Dawson, by type
Against the typical town its size, Dawson runs highest on mischief (57.5 per 1,000 against 4.2), drug offences (4.4 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (24.7 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 1.7 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.5 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 16 | 8.9 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 1.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 3.3 | 28% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4 | 2.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 46.3 | 26.1 | 24% |
| Mischief | 103 | 57.5 | 31% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 1.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 22 | 12.2 | 77% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11.3 | 6.3 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 8 | 4.4 | 13% |
| Impaired driving | 26.3 | 14.7 | 57% |
| 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 98 violent incidents a year in the 1,840-resident police area around Dawson, 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 190 property crimes, plus 130 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
The index in Dawson, each year
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (239.3) and 2023 the trough (176.9). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Dawson | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 222.4 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 239.3 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 176.9 | 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 Dawson, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Dawson’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- What the index measures. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “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 1,841 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 Dawson
Is Dawson safe?
The short answer is an index of 212.9 for Dawson (2023–2025), built from 54.4 violent incidents and 107 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Dawson?
Most often it is mischief: 57.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 51.5 and theft under $5,000 at 26.1.
Is crime going up in Dawson?
Yes: the index rose 26%, from 176.9 in 2023 to 222.4 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Dawson’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 37% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 50% of violent crime and 30% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Dawson 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).