Photo: bgilliard from St. Catharines, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Forest records less crime than 94% of Canadian towns
Its Safety Grade is A, on crime the police covering Forest reported from 2023 to 2025: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Violence accounts for an index of 38.8 and other offences for 29.8, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. Each year brought 6.4 violent incidents and 12.2 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size). By contrast, by 2025 the index had climbed to 33.2, up from 31.1 in 2023.
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. Measured across the Lambton (St. Clair/Lambton Shores) detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Forest
Lighter than Ontario’s middle
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Forest scores 32.2. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Forest is 5th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 43% of crime in Forest ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 77% of violent crime and 25% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: A for Forest
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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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 Forest’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 | 10 | 0.2 | 80% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 10 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 70.3 | 1.2 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.3 | 0.1 | 82% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 49 | 0.9 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 22 | 0.4 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 176.3 | 3.1 | 15% |
| Mischief | 130 | 2.3 | 15% |
| Weapons violations | 7.3 | 0.1 | 59% |
| Administration of justice violations | 113 | 2 | 66% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 19.7 | 0.3 | 44% |
| Drug violations | 35 | 0.6 | 68% |
| Impaired driving | 80.3 | 1.4 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 5 | 0.09 | 14% |
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.
Forest comes 5th 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 | Erin Ontario | 12,924 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Cantley Quebec | 12,291 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| 5 | Forest Ontario | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| 6 | Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine Quebec | 12,427 | 32.2 | 50.9 | A |
| 7 | Kincardine Ontario | 13,169 | 34.4 | 43.4 | A |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| 9 | Winchester Ontario | 12,706 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Meaford Ontario | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| 16 | Brighton Ontario | 12,900 | 46.9 | 65.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Ayr Ontario | 13,051 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Forest in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
57,300 residents, about 360 violent incidents a year: the police area Forest belongs to, 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.
Property crime adds about 690 a year and other violations 360 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Forest, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its most recent year, 2025, was also its heaviest (33.2); the lightest was 2023 (31.1). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Forest | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 33.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 32.2 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 31.1 | 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 Forest, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Forest
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| Kettle Point 44 | 1,363 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
| Parkhill | 6,864 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
Forest sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 15.2 km away, Parkhill comes to 25.7, against 32.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Forest’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- 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 Forest
Is Forest safe?
With 6.4 violent incidents and 12.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Forest comes to 32.2 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 Forest?
Police record fraud most, 4.1 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (3.4) and theft under $5,000 (3.1).
Is crime going up in Forest?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 7%, to 33.2 from 31.1.
How much of Forest’s crime do police solve?
43%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 77% and non-violent crime at 25%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Forest and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).