Photo: Percy Russell Doherty · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Fort Frances than in 90% of Canadian towns
Police counts work out at 37.0 violent incidents and 44.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Split in two, the index gives 209.3 for violence and 118.8 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Fort Frances reported put it at D for safety: #842 of 862 in Ontario. Steady over the three years, the index read 143.3 in 2023 and 139.1 in 2025.
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 Fort Frances
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Fort Frances records 6 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Over the Ontario norm
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Fort Frances scores 143.8. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 63% of Fort Frances’s crime, weighted by seriousness (80% of violent crime, 52% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Fort Frances is 37th 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.
The grade: D for Fort Frances
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: #842 of 862 in Ontario and #2,458 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Fort Frances’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Fort Frances runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (2.6 per 1,000 against 0.03), drug offences (6 per 1,000 against 0.7) and sexual assault (3.7 per 1,000 against 0.9). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.7 | 1.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 43.3 | 5.7 | 53% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.7 | 0.7 | 82% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.3 | 0.7 | 70% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 161.7 | 21.1 | 40% |
| Mischief | 71.3 | 9.3 | 40% |
| Weapons violations | 9.7 | 1.3 | 79% |
| Administration of justice violations | 133.7 | 17.5 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10 | 1.3 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 45.7 | 6 | 44% |
| Impaired driving | 33 | 4.3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Fort Frances comes 37th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Whitewater Region Ontario | 7,899 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Bayham Ontario | 7,935 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 5 | Chatsworth Ontario | 7,770 | 32 | 38.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 34 | Brazeau County Alberta | 7,685 | 130 | 92.3 | D |
| 35 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| 36 | Dryden Ontario | 7,808 | 137.6 | 238.3 | D |
| 37 | Fort Frances Ontario | 7,607 | 143.8 | 209.3 | D |
| 38 | Athabasca County Alberta | 7,280 | 165 | 138.6 | D |
| 39 | Slave Lake Alberta | 7,334 | 186.1 | 153.9 | D |
| 40 | Bonnyville Alberta | 7,366 | 285.4 | 211.4 | 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 Frances in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Fort Frances recorded about 280 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.
Property crime adds about 340 a year and other violations 280 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Fort Frances, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 149 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 139.1 in 2025. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Fort Frances | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 139.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 149 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 143.3 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Fort Frances, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Fort Frances
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Frances | 7,607 | 143.8 | 209.3 | D |
| Rainy River, Unorganized (22 km) | 1,498 | 49.4 | 69.4 | B+ |
| Emo (31 km) | 1,255 | 49.4 | 69.4 | B+ |
| Machin (130 km) | 1,060 | 61.4 | 91 | B− |
| Atikokan (132 km) | 2,796 | 68.9 | 109.7 | B− |
| Dryden (137 km) | 7,808 | 137.6 | 238.3 | D |
The places around Fort Frances all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Rainy River, Unorganized (22 km away), scores 49.4 against 143.8.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Fort Frances has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–137 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. 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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Fort Frances
Is Fort Frances safe?
Fort Frances’s Crime Severity Index is 143.8 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 37 violent incidents and 44.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the typical index is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Fort Frances?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 23.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (22.7) and theft under $5,000 (21.1).
Is crime going up in Fort Frances?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 143.3 to 139.1.
How much of Fort Frances’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 63% of crime (80% of violent crime, 52% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Fort Frances 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).