Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Dryden has more crime per resident than 89% of Canadian towns
The local count comes to 36.2 violent incidents and 36.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crime the police covering Dryden reported through 2023 to 2025: #839 of 862 in Ontario. Violence accounts for an index of 238.3 and other offences for 98.5, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Dryden
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Dryden records 5.8 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Lighter than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Dryden stood at 164.1, by 2025 at 105.6. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Dryden scores 137.6. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Dryden’s police clear 68%, 83% of violent crime and 53% of the rest. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Dryden: D for safety, and why
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: #839 of 862 in Ontario and #2,444 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.
Year by year in Dryden: down 36%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 164.1 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 105.6 in 2025. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Dryden | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 105.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 143.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 164.1 | 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 Dryden, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Dryden, by type
Against the typical town its size, Dryden runs highest on drug offences (5.8 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (3.9 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (20.1 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7.3 | 0.9 | 92% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.3 | 1.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 19 | 2.5 | 33% |
| Possession of stolen property | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6 | 0.8 | 45% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 128.3 | 16.6 | 43% |
| Mischief | 64.7 | 8.3 | 27% |
| Weapons violations | 10.7 | 1.4 | 56% |
| Administration of justice violations | 150.3 | 19.3 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14.7 | 1.9 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 45 | 5.8 | 76% |
| Impaired driving | 22.3 | 2.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.3 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Dryden places 38th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otonabee-South Monaghan Ontario | 8,084 | 26 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Whitewater Region Ontario | 7,899 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Bayham Ontario | 7,935 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 6 | Chatsworth Ontario | 7,770 | 32 | 38.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 36 | Brazeau County Alberta | 7,685 | 130 | 92.3 | D |
| 37 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| 38 | Dryden Ontario | 7,808 | 137.6 | 238.3 | D |
| 39 | Fort Frances Ontario | 7,607 | 143.8 | 209.3 | D |
| 40 | Drayton Valley Alberta | 8,047 | 152.4 | 156.3 | 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 Dryden in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Dryden’s police: about 280 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 290 property crimes, plus 290 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 Dryden
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryden | 7,808 | 137.6 | 238.3 | D |
| Machin (25 km) | 1,060 | 61.4 | 91 | B− |
| Kenora, Unorganized (35 km) | 7,877 | 73.9 | 96.2 | C+ |
| Lac Seul 28 (58 km) | 1,076 | 547.7 | 1,097.5 | D− |
| Sioux Lookout (73 km) | 6,122 | 267.2 | 543.5 | D |
Of 4 places nearby with their own figures, 2 come in under Dryden. The nearest of them, Machin (25.2 km away), scores 61.4 against 137.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 25–73 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Dryden.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. 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.
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
Questions about safety in Dryden
Is Dryden safe?
Statistics Canada puts Dryden at 137.6 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 36.2 and property crimes at 36.8 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Dryden?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 27.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (20.1) and theft under $5,000 (16.6).
Is crime going up in Dryden?
The reverse: 164.1 in 2023 came down to 105.6 by 2025, 36% lower.
How much of Dryden’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 68%: 83% for violent crime and 53% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Dryden 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).