Photo: Saskia2586 · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Elmira records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
The index fell from 75.8 in 2023 to 66.8 in 2025. Split in two, the index gives 89.7 for violence and 65.4 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56). All told, Elmira grades C+ for safety (#680 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Add to that, recorded violent incidents ran at 14.2 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 32.2, against 12.0 and 30.5 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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area.
What stands out about safety in Elmira
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Elmira places 30th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
Elmira’s index of 71.9 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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.
Inside Elmira’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: #680 of 862 in Ontario and #1,466 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.
Elmira comes 30th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fergus Ontario | 34,565 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Picton Ontario | 27,544 | 35.5 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Rockland Ontario | 30,375 | 38.2 | 56.7 | A |
| 6 | Strathroy Ontario | 26,497 | 38.8 | 47.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Stratford Ontario | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| 28 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 26,862 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 29 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 69.7 | 62.3 | C+ |
| 30 | Elmira Ontario | 31,382 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 31 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 78.4 | 82.7 | C+ |
| 32 | Amherstburg Ontario | 27,509 | 78.6 | 94.5 | C+ |
| 33 | Conception Bay South Newfoundland and Labrador | 29,725 | 81 | 104.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | 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 Elmira in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Elmira, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 75.8 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 66.8. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Elmira | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 73.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 75.8 | 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 Elmira, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
What police record in Elmira, by type
Against the typical town its size, Elmira runs highest on fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5.1), break and enter (3 per 1,000 against 2.2) and theft under $5,000 (14.2 per 1,000 against 11.8). Motor vehicle theft and drug offences sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 227.7 | 0.3 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 143.3 | 0.2 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 69 | 0.10 | 52% |
| Robbery | 362.3 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 120.3 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 165.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,068.3 | 3 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 715 | 1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,197 | 1.7 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 290.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,915.7 | 14.2 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,902.3 | 4.2 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 339 | 0.5 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,165.7 | 4.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 741.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 374.7 | 0.5 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 414.7 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 67.7 | 0.10 | 74% |
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.
Around 9,930 violent incidents a year in the 711,500-resident police area around Elmira, 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 22,500 property crimes, plus 6,020 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 Elmira
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmira | 31,382 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Bridgeport North | 2,858 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Waterloo | 142,450 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Bridgeport East | 3,903 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Fairfield | 3,497 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Central Frederick | 5,895 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
Sharing its police with 6 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- 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.”
- A regional police service. The service that polices Elmira reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
- Reading the number. 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 Elmira
Is Elmira safe?
Against a typical 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Elmira’s Crime Severity Index stands at 71.9 for 2023–2025. Its police record 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Elmira?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (14.2 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 7.7, and fraud, at 7.6, follow.
Is crime going up in Elmira?
Down 12%: 75.8 in 2023, 66.8 in 2025.
How much of Elmira’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 32% of crime (45% of violent crime, 25% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Elmira and everywhere else it polices.
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).