Photo: Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0For recorded crime, Ayr sits in the middle of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 89.7 for violence and 65.4 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56). Across all the graded crimes, Ayr lands on C+ (#680 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. In 2023 the index stood at 75.8; it fell to 66.8 in 2025. Typical years here bring 14.2 violent incidents plus 32.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area.
What stands out about safety in Ayr
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Ayr stands 26th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 71.9 in Ayr. 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.
What’s behind Ayr’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: #680 of 862 in Ontario and #1,466 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.
Ayr, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 75.8, and 2025 the lightest at 66.8. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ayr | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 73.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 75.8 | 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 Ayr, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Ayr, by type
Against the typical town its size, Ayr runs highest on fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5.1), break and enter (3 per 1,000 against 2.2) and theft under $5,000 (14.2 per 1,000 against 11.8). Motor vehicle theft and drug offences sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 227.7 | 0.3 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 143.3 | 0.2 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 69 | 0.10 | 52% |
| Robbery | 362.3 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 120.3 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 165.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,068.3 | 3 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 715 | 1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,197 | 1.7 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 290.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,915.7 | 14.2 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,902.3 | 4.2 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 339 | 0.5 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,165.7 | 4.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 741.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 374.7 | 0.5 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 414.7 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 67.7 | 0.10 | 74% |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Ayr places 26th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Erin Ontario | 12,924 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| 5 | Forest Ontario | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Kincardine Ontario | 13,169 | 34.4 | 43.4 | A |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Lorette Manitoba | 13,509 | 58.8 | 39.1 | B |
| 24 | Sidney British Columbia | 13,445 | 68.4 | 72.4 | B− |
| 25 | Dolbeau-Mistassini Quebec | 13,581 | 68.9 | 107.3 | C+ |
| 26 | Ayr Ontario | 13,051 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 27 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 28 | Kings County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 12,661 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 29 | Amos Quebec | 12,773 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Ayr in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Ayr is part of, 711,500 residents, recorded about 9,930 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.
Add about 22,500 property crimes and 6,020 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Ayr
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayr | 13,051 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Doon South | 15,044 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Huron South | 5,555 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Pioneer Park | 8,781 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Rosenberg | 9,831 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Pioneer Tower West | 4,122 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Cambridge | 165,354 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
The comparison skips 6 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A regional police service. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Ayr included.
- 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. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Ayr
Is Ayr safe?
With 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Ayr comes to 71.9 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have a median of 66.
What is the most common crime in Ayr?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 14.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 7.7 and fraud at 7.6.
Is crime going up in Ayr?
Down 12%: 75.8 in 2023, 66.8 in 2025.
How much of Ayr’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 32% of crime (45% of violent crime, 25% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Ayr 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).