Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Belleville sees more crime per resident than 64% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 94.1 for violence and 70.5 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). It grades C+ for safety on crime the police covering Belleville reported from 2023 to 2025: #746 of 862 in Ontario. Violence and property crime split as 13.6 violent incidents and 31.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. By contrast, the index fell from 79.8 in 2023 to 74.8 in 2025.
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 Belleville
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Belleville stands 28th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 76.8 in Belleville. Towns its size ↓
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Belleville records 1.2 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Above-typical clearance
Police cleared 46% of Belleville’s crime, weighted by seriousness (68% of violent crime, 34% of the rest), against 38% across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The C+ for Belleville, and how it is built
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: #746 of 862 in Ontario and #1,587 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.
Belleville’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Belleville runs highest on sexual assault (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.8), mischief (5.5 per 1,000 against 3.8) and break and enter (2.9 per 1,000 against 2.2). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 19 | 0.3 | 83% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 13.3 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 20 | 0.3 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7 | 0.1 | 96% |
| Other violent violations | 20.7 | 0.3 | 61% |
| Breaking and entering | 175.3 | 2.9 | 21% |
| Possession of stolen property | 15.7 | 0.3 | 78% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 75.7 | 1.2 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 52.3 | 0.9 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 907.7 | 14.8 | 19% |
| Mischief | 334 | 5.5 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 48.7 | 0.8 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 706.7 | 11.5 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 33.7 | 0.5 | 65% |
| Drug violations | 56.3 | 0.9 | 91% |
| Impaired driving | 70 | 1.1 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.03 | — |
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.
Belleville comes 28th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Bradford Ontario | 51,346 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 3 | Innisfil Ontario | 50,686 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 4 | Alliston Ontario | 50,739 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 65.9 | 65.9 | B− |
| 26 | Woodstock Ontario | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| 27 | Shawinigan Quebec | 51,739 | 76 | 113.4 | C+ |
| 28 | Belleville Ontario | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
| 29 | Dollard-Des Ormeaux Quebec | 50,246 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 30 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 81.6 | 62.7 | C |
| 31 | Charlottetown Prince Edward Island | 48,118 | 86.1 | 87.1 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 149.3 | 157.2 | 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 Belleville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Belleville, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 79.8, and 2025 the lightest at 74.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Belleville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 74.8 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 75.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 79.8 | 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 Belleville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 840 violent incidents a year reached Belleville’s police, 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 1,940 property crimes and 1,250 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 Belleville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
| Quinte West (16 km) | 50,385 | 52.9 | 73.2 | B+ |
| Picton (20 km) | 27,544 | 35.5 | 50.9 | A |
| Tyendinaga (20 km) | 5,005 | 131.9 | 280.3 | D |
| Stirling (22 km) | 5,489 | 30.8 | 33.2 | A+ |
| Deseronto (26 km) | 1,844 | 131.9 | 280.3 | D |
Nearby, 3 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Belleville. Closest is Quinte West, 15.6 km away, at 52.9 to 76.8 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 16–26 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Belleville.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. 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 Belleville
Is Belleville safe?
Belleville scores 76.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 13.6 violent incidents and 31.6 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Belleville?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 17.6 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of theft under $5,000 (14.8) and fraud (6).
Is crime going up in Belleville?
Down 6%: 79.8 in 2023, 74.8 in 2025.
How much of Belleville’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 46%: 68% for violent crime and 34% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Belleville’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).