Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainCornwall records more crime per resident than 80% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 126.4 and other offences for 96.7, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2. Its 4 neighbours with figures all record less crime per resident. On top of that, the grade is C−, built on crime the police covering Cornwall reported from 2023 to 2025: #813 of 862 in Ontario. Annual rates stand at 24.7 violent incidents and 41.4 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 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 Cornwall
Above Ontario’s typical town
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 104.5 in Cornwall. Towns its size ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Cornwall records 10 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Cornwall stands 35th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Down since 2023
From 120 in 2023 to 97.2 in 2025: that is Cornwall’s index, against 64.3 and 59.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Cornwall’s C− for safety
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: #813 of 862 in Ontario and #1,949 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.
Cornwall’s index fell 19% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 120, and its lowest 2024, at 96.4. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cornwall | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 97.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 96.4 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 120 | 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 Cornwall, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Cornwall stands 35th of 40 towns its size
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||
| 32 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 81.6 | 62.7 | C |
| 33 | Charlottetown Prince Edward Island | 48,118 | 86.1 | 87.1 | C |
| 34 | North Bay Ontario | 62,062 | 87.5 | 124.1 | C |
| 35 | Cornwall Ontario | 54,346 | 104.5 | 126.4 | C− |
| 36 | Brandon Manitoba | 59,444 | 107.2 | 121.5 | C− |
| 37 | Mission British Columbia | 47,280 | 114.1 | 134.5 | C− |
| 38 | Timmins Ontario | 45,569 | 124.5 | 170.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Vernon British Columbia | 49,527 | 145.1 | 141.2 | 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 Cornwall in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
What police record in Cornwall, by type
Against the typical town its size, Cornwall runs highest on assault (10 per 1,000 against 4.9), sexual assault (1.6 per 1,000 against 0.8) and theft under $5,000 (20 per 1,000 against 11.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 10.7 | 0.2 | 96% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 26.7 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Robbery | 30.3 | 0.6 | 73% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7 | 0.1 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 16 | 0.3 | 67% |
| Breaking and entering | 202.7 | 3.8 | 26% |
| Possession of stolen property | 13.7 | 0.3 | 88% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 133.3 | 2.5 | 16% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 59 | 1.1 | 13% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,065 | 20 | 37% |
| Mischief | 313 | 5.9 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 56.7 | 1.1 | 51% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,125.3 | 21.2 | 93% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 32.3 | 0.6 | 71% |
| Drug violations | 44.7 | 0.8 | 84% |
| Impaired driving | 111 | 2.1 | 75% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4 | 0.08 | — |
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.
Cornwall’s police: about 1,310 violent incidents a year over 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 2,200 property crimes, plus 1,950 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Cornwall
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | 54,346 | 104.5 | 126.4 | C− |
| Akwesasne (Part) 59 | 1,947 | 48.7 | 53.5 | B+ |
| Akwesasne | 2,562 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| South Glengarry | 14,355 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| Long Sault | 14,602 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
Of 4 places nearby with their own figures, 3 come in under Cornwall. Akwesasne (Part) 59, 2.6 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 48.7 to 104.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. 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.
Questions about safety in Cornwall
Is Cornwall safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Cornwall comes to 104.5. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 24.7 violent incidents and 41.4 property crimes. In the middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Cornwall?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 32 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of theft under $5,000 (20) and assault (10).
Is crime going up in Cornwall?
It went down 19% between 2023 and 2025, from 120 to 97.2.
How much of Cornwall’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 51% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 68% of violent crime and 42% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Cornwall 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).