Photo: cate cuerden from Stratford, Canada · CC BY 2.0Crime per resident in Bayfield runs lower than in 92% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 36.6 to 32.9. The Safety Grade comes out at A, drawn from crime the police covering Bayfield reported through 2023 to 2025: #138 of 862 in Ontario. Typical years here bring 6.2 violent incidents plus 11.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.9 plus 31.2 in the typical town its size. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 39.3 and 33.5.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Huron (Huron/Wingham) detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Bayfield
Visitors count, residents divide
With 32% of its homes not lived in all year, Bayfield counts its crime against a smaller year-round population than the one that is there in season. How to read it ↓
Under the Ontario norm
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Bayfield scores 35. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Bayfield is 11th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 46% of crime in Bayfield ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 77% of violent crime and 30% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Bayfield’s A for safety
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Bayfield itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 53 km away.
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: #138 of 862 in Ontario and #174 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 Bayfield’s figures
Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.3 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.03 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 39.7 | 1.7 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 25.3 | 1.1 | 24% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 0.4 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 57 | 2.4 | 15% |
| Mischief | 43.7 | 1.9 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 0.3 | 59% |
| Administration of justice violations | 58 | 2.5 | 73% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 0.4 | 54% |
| Drug violations | 8.3 | 0.4 | 88% |
| Impaired driving | 36.3 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 10 | 0.4 | 3% |
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.
About 150 violent incidents a year in the area of the detachment nearest Bayfield (23,900 residents), 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 260 property crimes and 170 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Bayfield places 11th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Alnwick/Haldimand Ontario | 8,197 | 21.6 | 26.9 | A+ |
| 3 | Plattsville Ontario | 8,251 | 25.1 | 27.5 | A+ |
| 4 | Otonabee-South Monaghan Ontario | 8,084 | 26 | 27.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Taber Alberta | 8,009 | 29.4 | 30.1 | A+ |
| 9 | South-West Oxford Ontario | 8,375 | 34.5 | 42.9 | A |
| 10 | Huron-Kinloss Ontario | 8,445 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| 11 | Bayfield Ontario | 8,327 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| 12 | Rigaud Quebec | 8,187 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 13 | Saint-Philippe Quebec | 8,674 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| 14 | Muskoka Lakes Ontario | 8,463 | 43.4 | 53.1 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Bayfield in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Bayfield, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 36.6, and 2025 the lightest at 32.9. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bayfield | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 32.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 36.6 | 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 Bayfield, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bayfield
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayfield | 8,327 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| Exeter (16 km) | 10,781 | 55.2 | 73.8 | B |
| Clinton (20 km) | 8,318 | 72.5 | 106.8 | C+ |
| Seaforth (30 km) | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
The places around Bayfield all score higher on the index.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 16–30 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Bayfield.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. 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.
Questions about safety in Bayfield
Is Bayfield safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Bayfield scores 35 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 6.2 violent and 11.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 68.5, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Bayfield?
Police record fraud most, 3.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of Criminal Code traffic offences (3.4) and other Criminal Code offences (3.3).
Is crime going up in Bayfield?
It went down 10% between 2023 and 2025, from 36.6 to 32.9.
How much of Bayfield’s crime do police solve?
46%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 77% and non-violent crime at 30%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Bayfield 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).