Photo: Duckdave · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime in Barrie is close to typical for Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 73 for violence and 56.5 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Its letter overall is B− (#490 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, from crime its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Each of the 3 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. Annual rates stand at 10.7 violent incidents and 28.9 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 10.8 and 25.1 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.
What stands out about safety in Barrie
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Barrie places 21st from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Police cleared 47% of Barrie’s crime, weighted by seriousness (70% of violent crime, 36% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
About the Ontario norm
Barrie’s index of 60.8 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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.
Barrie: B− for safety, and why
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: #490 of 862 in Ontario and #902 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Barrie’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Barrie runs highest on theft under $5,000 (15.9 per 1,000 against 11.5), drug offences (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (5.9 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 31.7 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 34.3 | 0.2 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6.7 | 0.04 | 90% |
| Robbery | 70.7 | 0.4 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 12.7 | 0.08 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 35.7 | 0.2 | 71% |
| Breaking and entering | 286.7 | 1.7 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 38.3 | 0.2 | 94% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 239.7 | 1.4 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 94.7 | 0.6 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 2,693.3 | 15.9 | 18% |
| Mischief | 571 | 3.4 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 131.3 | 0.8 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,357 | 8 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 125.7 | 0.7 | 60% |
| Drug violations | 193.3 | 1.1 | 95% |
| Impaired driving | 224.7 | 1.3 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 8.3 | 0.05 | 69% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Year by year in Barrie: down 6%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 62.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 59.2 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Barrie | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 60.4 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 62.9 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Barrie, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Barrie is 21st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakville Ontario | 243,107 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 3 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 56.8 | 73.1 | B |
| 19 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| 20 | Coquitlam British Columbia | 173,599 | 59.8 | 61.6 | B− |
| 21 | Barrie Ontario | 174,469 | 60.8 | 73 | B− |
| 22 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 61.5 | 93.7 | B− |
| 23 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 68.4 | 61.3 | B− |
| 24 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Ontario | 188,504 | 69.9 | 115.3 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 148.2 | 134.8 | 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 Barrie in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Barrie’s police: about 1,810 violent incidents a year over 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 4,880 property crimes, plus 2,390 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Barrie
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrie | 174,469 | 60.8 | 73 | B− |
| Innisfil | 50,686 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| Angus | 26,036 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| Springwater | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Barrie. Innisfil, 12.5 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 32.5 to 60.8.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Barrie
Is Barrie safe?
Statistics Canada puts Barrie at 60.8 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more sit at 60.3 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 10.7 and property crimes at 28.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Barrie?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 15.9, other Criminal Code offences at 10.9 and assault at 5.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Barrie?
Down 6%: 62.9 in 2023, 59.2 in 2025.
How much of Barrie’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 70% of violent crime and 36% of everything else, 47% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Barrie’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).