Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Georgian Bay records less crime per resident than 81% of Canadian towns
Police cleared 41% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size. Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 43.4 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 68.5. What’s more, that puts it at A− for safety, judged on crime the police covering Georgian Bay reported from 2023 to 2025: #207 of 862 in Ontario. In a usual year, 6.9 violent incidents and 14.8 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2.
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 published for the Bracebridge (Muskoka Lakes and Georgian Bay) detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Georgian Bay
More people here than live here
About 68% of Georgian Bay’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Georgian Bay places 7th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Below Ontario’s typical town
Georgian Bay’s index of 43.4 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Up since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Georgian Bay moved from 33.4 to 57.6, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Georgian Bay’s A− 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: #207 of 862 in Ontario and #349 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.
In Georgian Bay, up 73% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It finished on its highest reading, 57.6 in 2025, having been lowest in 2023 at 33.4. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Georgian Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 57.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 39.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 33.4 | 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 Georgian Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Georgian Bay’s crime by kind
Assault and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.10 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 14.3 | 1.4 | 33% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 5.7 | 0.6 | 18% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9 | 0.9 | 22% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 42.7 | 4.2 | 14% |
| Mischief | 32.7 | 3.2 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.9 | 46% |
| Administration of justice violations | 20.7 | 2 | 76% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.7 | 0.6 | 47% |
| Drug violations | 6.7 | 0.7 | 60% |
| Impaired driving | 35.3 | 3.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3 | 0.3 | — |
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.
Georgian Bay is 7th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mulmur Ontario | 3,813 | 24 | 17.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Saint-Maurice Quebec | 3,804 | 39.2 | 52 | A |
| 5 | Sainte-Claire Quebec | 3,724 | 39.7 | 73 | A |
| 6 | Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 3,915 | 42.4 | 50.5 | A− |
| 7 | Georgian Bay Ontario | 3,798 | 43.4 | 53.1 | A− |
| 8 | L'Islet Quebec | 3,874 | 43.7 | 73 | A− |
| 9 | Cap-Santé Quebec | 3,885 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| 10 | Ascot Corner Quebec | 3,725 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 20 | East Hawkesbury Ontario | 3,787 | 70.8 | 123.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Blind River Ontario | 3,692 | 77.7 | 114 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cowichan Bay British Columbia | 3,713 | 131.7 | 149.7 | 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 Georgian Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 70 violent incidents a year in the 10,200-resident police area around Georgian Bay, 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 150 property crimes and 100 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 Georgian Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgian Bay | 3,798 | 43.4 | 53.1 | A− |
| Muskoka Lakes (22 km) | 8,463 | 43.4 | 53.1 | A− |
| Penetanguishene (26 km) | 11,141 | 56.4 | 92 | B |
| Tay (28 km) | 11,968 | 34.3 | 46.4 | A |
| Midland (28 km) | 19,305 | 81.8 | 97.3 | C |
Nearby, 1 of 3 places with their own figures have a lower index than Georgian Bay. Just 28.1 km away, Tay comes to 34.3, against 43.4. One place nearby is policed together with it and reported as one, so there is nothing to compare.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Georgian Bay has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–28 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider policing area. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Georgian Bay is one part.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Georgian Bay
Is Georgian Bay safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Georgian Bay scores 43.4 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 6.9 violent and 14.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Georgian Bay?
Most often it is Criminal Code traffic offences: 5.1 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come fraud at 4.3 and theft under $5,000 at 4.2.
Is crime going up in Georgian Bay?
It went up 73% between 2023 and 2025, from 33.4 to 57.6.
How much of Georgian Bay’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 41%: 62% for violent crime and 34% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Georgian Bay together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).