Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Erie sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Its letter overall is B (#377 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, from crime its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 72.6 and 49.9. Violence and property crime split as 9.4 violent incidents and 25.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. The index held steady between 2023 (55.4) and 2025 (53.8).
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts for the Niagara Region (St. Catharines) service area.
What stands out about safety in Fort Erie
Lower than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Fort Erie places 16th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Close to Ontario’s typical town
Fort Erie’s index of 56.1 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.
What’s behind Fort Erie’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: #377 of 862 in Ontario and #736 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.
Crime in Fort Erie, type by type
Drug offences and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 11.7 | 0.02 | 79% |
| Sexual violations against children | 139.7 | 0.3 | 47% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 115.3 | 0.2 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 23.7 | 0.04 | 55% |
| Robbery | 184.3 | 0.3 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 31 | 0.06 | 90% |
| Other violent violations | 100 | 0.2 | 56% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,186.7 | 2.2 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 118.3 | 0.2 | 89% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 959.7 | 1.8 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 240.3 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 6,173.3 | 11.5 | 17% |
| Mischief | 1,897 | 3.5 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 100 | 0.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,185 | 5.9 | 95% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 278.3 | 0.5 | 51% |
| Drug violations | 280.3 | 0.5 | 89% |
| Impaired driving | 558.3 | 1 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 129.3 | 0.2 | 8% |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Fort Erie places 16th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Fergus Ontario | 34,565 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Orangeville Ontario | 33,070 | 43.5 | 50.6 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Alma Quebec | 30,659 | 49.6 | 81.8 | B+ |
| 14 | East Gwillimbury Ontario | 42,989 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 15 | Boucherville Quebec | 41,910 | 53.7 | 69.5 | B |
| 16 | Fort Erie Ontario | 37,226 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 17 | Thorold Ontario | 33,844 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 18 | Grimsby Ontario | 31,478 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 19 | Leamington Ontario | 34,653 | 57.2 | 81.7 | B |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Stratford Ontario | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 Fort Erie in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Fort Erie, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 58.9, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in at 53.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Fort Erie | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 53.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 58.9 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 55.4 | 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 Fort Erie, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Fort Erie is part of, 551,100 residents, recorded about 5,080 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.
Add about 13,500 property crimes and 4,880 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 Fort Erie
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Erie | 37,226 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Port Colborne (20 km) | 21,921 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Niagara Falls (24 km) | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Welland (24 km) | 66,480 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
3 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 20–24 km from Fort Erie.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider service area. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Fort Erie included.
Questions about safety in Fort Erie
Is Fort Erie safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Fort Erie scores 56.1 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 9.4 violent and 25.1 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Fort Erie?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (11.5 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 6.8, and fraud, at 5.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Fort Erie?
The index stayed close to where it was, 55.4 in 2023 and 53.8 in 2025.
How much of Fort Erie’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 37% of crime (49% of violent crime, 30% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Fort Erie 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).