Photo: P199 · Public domainBrighton has less crime per resident than 74% of Canadian towns
The grade is B+, built on crime the police covering Brighton reported from 2023 to 2025: #249 of 862 in Ontario. Its Crime Severity Index averaged 46.9 over 2023–2025, against 66 for the typical Canadian town its size. Per 1,000 residents a year, 9.5 violent incidents and 19.6 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Ontario’s towns sit around 56.2, midway up their range.
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 Brighton
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Brighton moved from 55.2 to 37.9, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Brighton stands 16th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Police cleared 45% of Brighton’s crime, weighted by seriousness (63% of violent crime, 34% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Brighton records 2.3 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. 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’s behind Brighton’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: #249 of 862 in Ontario and #455 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
In Brighton, down 31% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (55.2); the low point came in 2025, at 37.9. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Brighton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 37.9 | 60 |
| 2024 | 47.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 55.2 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Brighton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Brighton’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Brighton runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.06), drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and mischief (8.8 per 1,000 against 3.7). 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 | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12 | 0.9 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 53.3 | 4.2 | 22% |
| Mischief | 113 | 8.8 | 9% |
| Weapons violations | 7.7 | 0.6 | 100% |
| Administration of justice violations | 23 | 1.8 | 74% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6 | 0.5 | 55% |
| Drug violations | 29.7 | 2.3 | 66% |
| Impaired driving | 11.7 | 0.9 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Police in Brighton recorded about 120 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 250 property crimes and 110 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Brighton places 16th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Erin Ontario | 12,924 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| 5 | Forest Ontario | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Kincardine Ontario | 13,169 | 34.4 | 43.4 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Bromont Quebec | 12,413 | 38.1 | 45.9 | A |
| 14 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| 15 | Meaford Ontario | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| 16 | Brighton Ontario | 12,900 | 46.9 | 65.6 | B+ |
| 17 | Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Quebec | 12,154 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| 18 | Stratford Prince Edward Island | 13,152 | 50 | 78.6 | B+ |
| 19 | Blackfalds Alberta | 12,258 | 50.8 | 49.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Brighton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Brighton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | 12,900 | 46.9 | 65.6 | B+ |
| Colborne | 7,216 | 30.1 | 41.7 | A+ |
| Quinte West | 50,385 | 52.9 | 73.2 | B+ |
Nearby, 1 of 2 places with their own figures have a lower index than Brighton. Just 11.6 km away, Colborne comes to 30.1, against 46.9.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- 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 Brighton
Is Brighton safe?
Its police recorded 9.5 violent incidents and 19.6 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Brighton a Crime Severity Index of 46.9. Set that beside 66, the median for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Brighton?
Police record mischief most, 8.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (5.2) and fraud (5).
Is crime going up in Brighton?
It went down 31% between 2023 and 2025, from 55.2 to 37.9.
How much of Brighton’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 45% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 63% of violent crime and 34% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Brighton and nowhere else.
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).