Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Bradford has less crime per resident than nine in ten Canadian towns
A Safety Grade of A follows from crime the police covering Bradford reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #120 of 862 in Ontario. Split in two, the index gives 41.8 for violence and 29.1 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Each year brought 6.7 violent incidents and 14.9 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size). Among its 5 neighbours with figures, only one 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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the South Simcoe (Innisfil) service area).
What stands out about safety in Bradford
Lower than most of Ontario
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Bradford scores 32.5. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Bradford is 2nd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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.
What’s behind Bradford’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: #120 of 862 in Ontario and #156 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.
Bradford is 2nd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 26.8 | 29 | 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 |
| 5 | Blainville Quebec | 61,739 | 34.9 | 41.4 | A |
| 6 | Paris Ontario | 45,565 | 36.6 | 30.9 | A |
| 7 | Caledonia Ontario | 56,059 | 37.2 | 37.5 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Stouffville Ontario | 58,010 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 14 | Keswick Ontario | 53,630 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 Bradford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Which crimes make up Bradford’s figures
Theft under $5,000 and break and enter 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 | 16.3 | 0.2 | 57% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 13.7 | 0.1 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 6.3 | 0.06 | 48% |
| Robbery | 12.3 | 0.1 | 54% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 86 | 0.9 | 36% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 0.10 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 163 | 1.6 | 15% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 39.7 | 0.4 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 555.3 | 5.6 | 18% |
| Mischief | 207.7 | 2.1 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 21.7 | 0.2 | 54% |
| Administration of justice violations | 237 | 2.4 | 89% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 33.7 | 0.3 | 61% |
| Drug violations | 21 | 0.2 | 95% |
| Impaired driving | 104 | 1 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 5.7 | 0.06 | 88% |
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.
102,000 residents, about 670 violent incidents a year: the police area Bradford belongs to, 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.
And about 1,480 property crimes, plus 510 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
In Bradford, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 34 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 31.6 in 2025. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Bradford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 31.6 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 34 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 32 | 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 Bradford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Bradford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | 51,346 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| Newmarket | 95,763 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| East Gwillimbury | 42,989 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Aurora | 67,385 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Alliston | 50,739 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| King | 29,077 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Bradford.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One service, several municipalities. The service that polices Bradford reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
Questions about safety in Bradford
Is Bradford safe?
Statistics Canada puts Bradford at 32.5 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more sit at 60.3 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 6.7 and property crimes at 14.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Bradford?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 5.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come fraud at 4.1 and other Criminal Code offences at 3.3.
Is crime going up in Bradford?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 32 to 31.6.
How much of Bradford’s crime do police solve?
About 42% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 62% of violent and 30% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Bradford 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).