Photo: Ashtabula Archive · Public domainFewer crimes per resident are recorded in Bayham than in 94% of Canadian towns
Counting crime the police covering Bayham reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A for safety: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Behind the grade sit 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Violence accounts for an index of 41.2 and other offences for 27.9, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Neither of the two towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Elgin County detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Bayham
Lower than most of Ontario
Bayham’s index of 31.5 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Bayham places 6th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 43% of crime in Bayham ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 80% of violent crime and 20% 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.
What’s behind Bayham’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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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 Bayham’s figures
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 | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48.3 | 1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74.3 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 20.3 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 138.3 | 2.9 | 11% |
| Mischief | 99 | 2.1 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.2 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 74.3 | 1.5 | 73% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 0.4 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 59.3 | 1.2 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 7 | 0.1 | 0% |
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.
Bayham is 6th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alnwick/Haldimand Ontario | 8,197 | 21.6 | 26.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Otonabee-South Monaghan Ontario | 8,084 | 26 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Whitewater Region Ontario | 7,899 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Taber Alberta | 8,009 | 29.4 | 30.1 | A+ |
| 5 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 30.1 | 37.6 | A+ |
| 6 | Bayham Ontario | 7,935 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 7 | Chatsworth Ontario | 7,770 | 32 | 38.1 | A |
| 8 | Chesley Ontario | 7,639 | 33.7 | 38.7 | A |
| 9 | Augusta Ontario | 7,767 | 34 | 40.2 | A |
| 10 | North Stormont Ontario | 7,946 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Haliburton Village Ontario | 8,100 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,197 | 360 | 345 | 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 Bayham in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 330 violent incidents a year across the police area of 48,900 residents that includes Bayham, 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 560 property crimes and 220 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Year by year in Bayham: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 35.4, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 29.4. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bayham | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 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 Bayham, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bayham
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayham | 7,935 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Malahide | 9,995 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Aylmer | 8,371 | 49 | 63.6 | B+ |
| Tillsonburg | 21,450 | 54.1 | 63.3 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Bayham. One place nearby is policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- 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.”
- A detachment’s area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Bayham is one part.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Bayham
Is Bayham safe?
Bayham measures 31.5 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Bayham?
The three biggest groups are assault at 3.8, fraud at 3.5 and theft under $5,000 at 2.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Bayham?
The index stayed close to where it was, 29.8 in 2023 and 29.4 in 2025.
How much of Bayham’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 43% of crime (80% of violent crime, 20% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Bayham and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).