Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Bolton has less crime per resident than 85% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 51 for violence and 34.9 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). On the record of crime the police covering Bolton reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes A for safety: #188 of 862 in Ontario. None of the 6 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Year on year, 7.0 violent incidents and 15.9 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 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 Bolton
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Bolton places 5th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Lighter than Ontario’s middle
Bolton’s index of 39.2 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Motor vehicle theft: high for a town its size
Bolton records 3 incidents of motor vehicle theft per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Bolton’s A
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: #188 of 862 in Ontario and #294 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.
Crime in Bolton, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Bolton runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3 per 1,000 against 1.7). 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 | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 6.3 | 0.07 | 59% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6.3 | 0.07 | 68% |
| Robbery | 17.7 | 0.2 | 36% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 9 | 0.1 | 59% |
| Breaking and entering | 91.7 | 1 | 9% |
| Possession of stolen property | 17.3 | 0.2 | 71% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 264 | 3 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 93.3 | 1 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 384.7 | 4.3 | 11% |
| Mischief | 236 | 2.7 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 38.7 | 0.4 | 27% |
| Administration of justice violations | 93.7 | 1.1 | 82% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 24 | 0.3 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 24.3 | 0.3 | 58% |
| Impaired driving | 116.3 | 1.3 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 16 | 0.2 | 19% |
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.
Bolton is 5th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 3 | Lindsay Ontario | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| 4 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| 5 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| 6 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 44 | 56.2 | A− |
| 7 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 44.3 | 48.7 | A− |
| 8 | Simcoe Ontario | 75,618 | 47 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Newmarket Ontario | 95,763 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 11 | Aurora Ontario | 67,385 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 15 | Welland Ontario | 66,480 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Bolton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 620 violent incidents a year on Bolton’s police records (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 1,410 property crimes and 380 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Bolton’s index fell 6% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 41.5 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 37.3 in 2024. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bolton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 38.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 37.3 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 41.5 | 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 Bolton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bolton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| Wildfield | 8,511 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Mount Royal | 6,421 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Castlemore Estates | 2,587 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Vales of Castlemore | 14,894 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Sandalwood East (mountainash) | 21,801 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Countryside | 5,595 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Bolton.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Bolton
Is Bolton safe?
Bolton scores 39.2 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 7 violent incidents and 15.9 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Bolton?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 4.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of fraud (3.4) and assault (3.3).
Is crime going up in Bolton?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 6%, to 38.9 from 41.5.
How much of Bolton’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 32%: 59% for violent crime and 18% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Bolton’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).