Photo: Patrick Tomasso impatrickt · CC0More crimes per resident are recorded in Bancroft than in 86% of Canadian towns
Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Measured on crime the police covering Bancroft reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #831 of 862 in Ontario. Year on year, 31.0 violent incidents and 37.9 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Its violent half comes to 153.2 and its non-violent half to 109.8, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Bancroft
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Bancroft records 4.8 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Above Ontario’s typical town
Bancroft’s index of 121.5 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 60% of crime in Bancroft ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 77% of violent crime and 51% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Bancroft places 35th from the lowest index. 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 sits behind Bancroft’s D
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: #831 of 862 in Ontario and #2,281 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.
Which crimes make up Bancroft’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Bancroft runs highest on drug offences (4.8 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (2.5 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (15.5 per 1,000 against 6.7). 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 | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 13.7 | 3.1 | 39% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6.7 | 1.5 | 45% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.7 | 1.5 | 19% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 64 | 14.6 | 30% |
| Mischief | 36 | 8.2 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 5.7 | 1.3 | 65% |
| Administration of justice violations | 113.3 | 25.9 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 7.7 | 1.8 | 61% |
| Drug violations | 21 | 4.8 | 80% |
| Impaired driving | 13 | 3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
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.
By its index, Bancroft stands 35th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 30.8 | 39.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Eganville Ontario | 4,326 | 38.6 | 53.5 | A |
| 7 | Deep River Ontario | 4,353 | 39.3 | 56 | A |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Highlands East Ontario | 4,372 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Stellarton Nova Scotia | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| 33 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 119.1 | 253 | C− |
| 34 | Ormstown Quebec | 4,259 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| 35 | Bancroft Ontario | 4,331 | 121.5 | 153.2 | D |
| 36 | Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 4,482 | 131.7 | 149.7 | D |
| 37 | Vermilion Alberta | 4,192 | 142.6 | 129.6 | D |
| 38 | Geraldton Ontario | 4,398 | 198.8 | 261.9 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Bancroft in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Bancroft recorded about 140 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 170 a year and other violations 180 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Bancroft’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 142.7, and 2025 the lightest at 104.7. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bancroft | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 104.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 117 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 142.7 | 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 Bancroft, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bancroft
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bancroft | 4,331 | 121.5 | 153.2 | D |
| Faraday | 1,820 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
| Hastings Highlands | 4,957 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
| Carlow/Mayo | 1,048 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
The places around Bancroft all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Faraday (11.1 km away), scores 55.2 against 121.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- Small numbers. About 4,331 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Bancroft
Is Bancroft safe?
Bancroft’s Crime Severity Index is 121.5 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 31 violent incidents and 37.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Bancroft?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 31 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (15.5) and theft under $5,000 (14.6).
Is crime going up in Bancroft?
No: the index fell 27%, from 142.7 in 2023 to 104.7 in 2025. The police area is small or partly reported, so treat the change with care.
How much of Bancroft’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 60% of crime (77% of violent crime, 51% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Bancroft 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).