Photo: VirdenPioneers · CC BY-SA 4.0Virden sees more crime per resident than 80% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 169 and other offences for 78.3, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Recorded violent incidents ran at 24.4 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 39.6, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Counting crime the police covering Virden reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #43 of 182 in Manitoba. Across Manitoba’s towns, the middle index is 129.3.
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 Virden
Mischief: high for a town its size
Virden records 19.1 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 ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Virden is 30th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Above-typical clearance
Police cleared 49% of Virden’s crime, weighted by seriousness (68% of violent crime, 32% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Virden’s two halves part ways: 169 for violence (typical 85.7) and 78.3 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.
What’s behind Virden’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: #43 of 182 in Manitoba 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.
Virden’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Virden runs highest on mischief (19.1 per 1,000 against 4.9), drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (10.8 per 1,000 against 6.7). Break and enter and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 7 | 2.1 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3 | 0.9 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 2.4 | 25% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 27 | 8.2 | 19% |
| Mischief | 63.3 | 19.1 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 28.7 | 8.7 | 85% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6 | 1.8 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 5 | 1.5 | 60% |
| Impaired driving | 16.7 | 5 | 36% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Virden comes 30th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Quebec | 3,400 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Bonavista Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,293 | 92.8 | 63.2 | C |
| 28 | Cumberland County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 3,401 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| 29 | Annapolis County, Subdivision D Nova Scotia | 3,273 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| 30 | Virden Manitoba | 3,322 | 103.6 | 169 | C− |
| 31 | Central Okanagan West British Columbia | 3,298 | 106.7 | 102.5 | C− |
| 32 | Havre-Saint-Pierre Quebec | 3,389 | 110.6 | 223.3 | C− |
| 33 | Sainte-Clotilde Quebec | 3,297 | 116.5 | 80.3 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Division No. 19, Unorganized Manitoba | 3,324 | 419.5 | 614.9 | D− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Inuvik Northwest Territories | 3,337 | 718.3 | 807.9 | 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 Virden in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 81 violent incidents a year reached Virden’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 130 a year and other violations 91 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
The index in Virden, each year
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 123.1; the lightest was 2024, at 83.1. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Virden | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 123.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 83.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 104.7 | 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 Virden, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Virden
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virden | 3,322 | 103.6 | 169 | C− |
| Hamiota (44 km) | 1,210 | 111 | 149.1 | C− |
| Riverdale (54 km) | 2,205 | 95.2 | 103.8 | C− |
| Souris (55 km) | 2,737 | 54.2 | 56.4 | B |
| Moosomin (61 km) | 2,906 | 68.2 | 62.3 | B− |
| Redvers (63 km) | 1,068 | 126.1 | 169.7 | D |
Nearby, 3 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Virden. Riverdale, 53.9 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 95.2 to 103.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 44–63 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Virden.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Read with care. With roughly 3,322 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- 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.
- 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.”
Questions about safety in Virden
Is Virden safe?
With 24.4 violent incidents and 39.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Virden comes to 103.6 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Virden?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 19.4 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of mischief (19.1) and assault (10.8).
Is crime going up in Virden?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 18%, to 123.1 from 104.7. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Virden’s crime do police solve?
About 49% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 68% of violent and 32% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Virden’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).