Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Crime per resident in Black River-Matheson runs higher than in 78% of Canadian towns
Its letter for safety is C−, worked out from crime the police covering Black River-Matheson reported over 2023 to 2025: #806 of 862 in Ontario. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 171.6 and 68.6. Each year brought 14.1 violent incidents and 21.4 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (12.9 and 31.2 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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Kirkland Lake detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Black River-Matheson
More crime solved
Police cleared 69% of Black River-Matheson’s crime, weighted by seriousness (115% of violent crime, 43% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Over the Ontario norm
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 97.4 in Black River-Matheson. Towns its size ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Black River-Matheson’s two halves part ways: 171.6 for violence (typical 85.7) and 68.6 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Black River-Matheson stands 32nd, the lowest first. 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.
Black River-Matheson: C− for safety, and why
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 54 km from Black River-Matheson, since none reports under the town’s name.
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: #806 of 862 in Ontario and #1,926 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.
Black River-Matheson’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Black River-Matheson runs highest on break and enter (4.1 per 1,000 against 2.8). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 15 | 4.1 | 35% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6.7 | 1.8 | 34% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.7 | 1.8 | 19% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 16 | 4.4 | 14% |
| Mischief | 14 | 3.8 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 1.5 | 81% |
| Administration of justice violations | 15.3 | 4.2 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Drug violations | 4.3 | 1.2 | — |
| Impaired driving | 9 | 2.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 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.
By its index, Black River-Matheson stands 32nd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Garafraxa Ontario | 2,976 | 28.7 | 22 | A+ |
| 2 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Algonquin Highlands Ontario | 2,915 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Addington Highlands Ontario | 2,827 | 84.5 | 105.8 | C |
| 30 | Minnedosa Manitoba | 2,859 | 89.9 | 92.1 | C |
| 31 | Fairview Alberta | 2,918 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| 32 | Black River-Matheson Ontario | 2,899 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| 33 | Wawa Ontario | 2,943 | 97.9 | 182.2 | C− |
| 34 | Senneterre Quebec | 2,832 | 103.6 | 183.5 | C− |
| 35 | Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Lesser Slave River No. 124 Alberta | 2,980 | 170.9 | 107.9 | 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 Black River-Matheson in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment closest to Black River-Matheson, 3,670 residents, recorded about 52 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.
Add about 78 property crimes and 43 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
The index in Black River-Matheson, each year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (155.4); 2024 was the lightest, at 66.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Black River-Matheson | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 66.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 155.4 | 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 Black River-Matheson, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Black River-Matheson
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black River-Matheson | 2,899 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| Kirkland Lake (50 km) | 8,158 | 170.1 | 271.7 | D |
| Timmins (63 km) | 45,569 | 124.5 | 170.4 | D |
| Timiskaming, Unorganized, West Part (69 km) | 3,606 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| Cochrane (77 km) | 5,948 | 145.5 | 191 | D |
Black River-Matheson has the lowest index of the places around it. Where a neighbour shares its police, it shares the figure too, and isn’t counted above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 50–77 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Black River-Matheson.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- A small police area. The police behind these figures serve about 3,672 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in Black River-Matheson
Is Black River-Matheson safe?
Black River-Matheson’s Crime Severity Index is 97.4 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 14.1 violent incidents and 21.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Black River-Matheson?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 6.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 5.6 and fraud at 5.1.
Is crime going up in Black River-Matheson?
No: the index fell 55%, from 155.4 in 2023 to 70.1 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Black River-Matheson’s crime do police solve?
69%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 115% and non-violent crime at 43%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Black River-Matheson together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).