Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 2.5Elliot Lake records more crime per resident than 72% of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 86.6 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 66. In a usual year, 22.5 violent incidents and 26.9 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.0 and 30.5. On the record of crime the police covering Elliot Lake reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C for safety: #785 of 862 in Ontario.
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 Elliot Lake
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Elliot Lake records 2 incidents of sexual assault 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 ↓
Lighter than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Elliot Lake moved from 103.9 to 72.5, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 58% of Elliot Lake’s crime, weighted by seriousness (78% of violent crime, 45% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Above Ontario’s typical town
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Elliot Lake scores 86.6. 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 Elliot Lake’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: #785 of 862 in Ontario and #1,785 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Elliot Lake’s index dropped 30%
Crime Severity Index
From 103.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 72.5 in 2025. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Elliot Lake | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 83.5 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 103.9 | 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 Elliot Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Elliot Lake’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Elliot Lake runs highest on sexual assault (2 per 1,000 against 0.8), drug offences (1.6 per 1,000 against 0.8) and fraud (8.4 per 1,000 against 5.1). Theft under $5,000 and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.3 | 0.7 | 76% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5 | 0.4 | 66% |
| Breaking and entering | 38.3 | 3.1 | 40% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.7 | 0.9 | 35% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.4 | 25% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 94.7 | 7.7 | 32% |
| Mischief | 72.7 | 5.9 | 27% |
| Weapons violations | 5.7 | 0.5 | 65% |
| Administration of justice violations | 225.3 | 18.3 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 14.7 | 1.2 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 19.7 | 1.6 | 71% |
| Impaired driving | 10.3 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Elliot Lake comes 35th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| 3 | Georgian Bluffs Ontario | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Adjala-Tosorontio Ontario | 11,948 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Moncton New Brunswick | 12,238 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 33 | Weyburn Saskatchewan | 11,871 | 75.6 | 64.9 | C+ |
| 34 | Amos Quebec | 12,773 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| 35 | Elliot Lake Ontario | 12,317 | 86.6 | 123.3 | C |
| 36 | Wetaskiwin County No. 10 Alberta | 12,117 | 88.9 | 60 | C |
| 37 | Gander Newfoundland and Labrador | 12,707 | 97.2 | 80.6 | C− |
| 38 | Nelson British Columbia | 12,126 | 100.4 | 98.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Clearwater County Alberta | 11,856 | 188.3 | 342.3 | 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 Elliot Lake in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 280 violent incidents a year reached Elliot Lake’s police, 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 330 property crimes and 300 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Elliot Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Lake | 12,317 | 86.6 | 123.3 | C |
| Blind River (31 km) | 3,692 | 77.7 | 114 | C+ |
| Sables-Spanish Rivers (54 km) | 3,412 | 81.9 | 109 | C |
| Huron Shores (55 km) | 2,030 | 43.6 | 67.9 | A− |
| Espanola (68 km) | 5,504 | 90.6 | 123.8 | C |
| Thessalon (71 km) | 1,363 | 55.2 | 97 | B |
Nearby, 4 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Elliot Lake. Just 30.6 km away, Blind River comes to 77.7, against 86.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Elliot Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 31–71 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- 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 Elliot Lake
Is Elliot Lake safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Elliot Lake scores 86.6 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 22.5 violent and 26.9 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Elliot Lake?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 21.4, assault at 8.8 and fraud at 8.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Elliot Lake?
No: the index fell 30%, from 103.9 in 2023 to 72.5 in 2025.
How much of Elliot Lake’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 58% of crime (78% of violent crime, 45% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Elliot Lake 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).