Photo: The Silverliner · CC BY-SA 3.0Dundalk sees less crime per resident than 84% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 49.1 and other offences for 37.5, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Dundalk’s Safety Grade is A−, on crime the police covering Dundalk reported from 2023 to 2025: #193 of 862 in Ontario. Add to that, in a usual year, 9.2 violent incidents and 14.8 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.0 and 30.5.
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 Dundalk
Under the Ontario norm
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Dundalk scores 40.6. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Dundalk is 13th 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.
Dundalk: A− 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: #193 of 862 in Ontario and #306 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.
Which crimes make up Dundalk’s figures
Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 26.3 | 2.4 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14.3 | 1.3 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7 | 0.6 | 14% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 45.7 | 4.2 | 22% |
| Mischief | 28.3 | 2.6 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 22.7 | 2.1 | 70% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Impaired driving | 9 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.2 | — |
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 Dundalk recorded about 100 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.
And about 160 property crimes, plus 59 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Dundalk comes 13th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Drayton Ontario | 11,518 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Georgian Bluffs Ontario | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 4 | Millbrook Ontario | 11,507 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 10 | L'Île-Perrot Quebec | 11,921 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 11 | Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot Quebec | 11,716 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 12 | Martensville Saskatchewan | 11,808 | 39.9 | 46.5 | A |
| 13 | Dundalk Ontario | 11,599 | 40.6 | 49.1 | A− |
| 14 | Saint-Raymond Quebec | 11,951 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| 15 | Pont-Rouge Quebec | 11,339 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| 16 | Coldstream British Columbia | 11,380 | 45.1 | 61.9 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Dundalk in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
From 2023 to 2025, Dundalk’s index dropped 7%
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 42.6, and its lowest 2025, at 39.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Dundalk | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 39.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 39.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 42.6 | 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 Dundalk, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Dundalk
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 11,599 | 40.6 | 49.1 | A− |
| Melancthon | 3,581 | 68.8 | 125.9 | B− |
| Grey Highlands | 12,148 | 39.7 | 47.7 | A |
Dundalk sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Closest is Grey Highlands, 17.5 km away, at 39.7 to 40.6 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in Dundalk
Is Dundalk safe?
With 9.2 violent incidents and 14.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Dundalk comes to 40.6 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have a median of 66.
What is the most common crime in Dundalk?
Top of the list is assault (5.1 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 4.2, and fraud, at 3.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Dundalk?
The reverse: 42.6 in 2023 came down to 39.5 by 2025, 7% lower.
How much of Dundalk’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 39% of crime (62% of violent crime, 27% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Dundalk alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).