Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Geraldton records more crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Geraldton reported from 2023 to 2025: #851 of 862 in Ontario. Split in two, the index gives 261.9 for violence and 175.3 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). Annual rates stand at 40.3 violent incidents and 61.1 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.9 and 31.2 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. Measured across the Greenstone detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Geraldton
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Geraldton records 14.6 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Above Ontario’s typical town
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Geraldton scores 198.8. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 63% of Geraldton’s crime, weighted by seriousness (87% of violent crime, 48% 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, Geraldton is 39th 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.
Inside Geraldton’s D 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: #851 of 862 in Ontario and #2,507 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.
Geraldton’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Geraldton runs highest on break and enter (14.6 per 1,000 against 2.8), drug offences (3.8 per 1,000 against 0.7) and sexual assault (3.8 per 1,000 against 0.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.7 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 4 | 0.7 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4 | 0.7 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 78.3 | 14.6 | 32% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 18.3 | 3.4 | 48% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7 | 1.3 | 14% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 128.3 | 23.8 | 22% |
| Mischief | 61.3 | 11.4 | 20% |
| Weapons violations | 12.3 | 2.3 | 87% |
| Administration of justice violations | 133 | 24.7 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 1.6 | 66% |
| Drug violations | 20.3 | 3.8 | 89% |
| Impaired driving | 23.7 | 4.4 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
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.
Geraldton comes 39th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 30.8 | 39.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Howick Ontario | 4,517 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Eganville Ontario | 4,326 | 38.6 | 53.5 | A |
| 9 | Deep River Ontario | 4,353 | 39.3 | 56 | A |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Bancroft Ontario | 4,331 | 121.5 | 153.2 | D |
| 37 | Vanderhoof British Columbia | 4,545 | 126.5 | 178.5 | D |
| 38 | Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 4,482 | 131.7 | 149.7 | D |
| 39 | Geraldton Ontario | 4,398 | 198.8 | 261.9 | D |
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Geraldton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Geraldton is part of, 5,390 residents, recorded about 220 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 330 property crimes and 220 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Geraldton’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 210.3, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2023, came in at 192.5. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Geraldton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 193.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 210.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 192.5 | 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 Geraldton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Geraldton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geraldton | 4,398 | 198.8 | 261.9 | D |
| Manitouwadge (104 km) | 2,052 | 92.4 | 166.1 | C |
| Terrace Bay (105 km) | 1,553 | 41.7 | 53.6 | A− |
| Marathon (120 km) | 3,223 | 74.7 | 120.7 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Geraldton. Closest is Manitouwadge, 104.4 km away, at 92.4 to 198.8 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Geraldton has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 104–120 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- Shared with the countryside. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Geraldton’s are shared with its surroundings.
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Geraldton
Is Geraldton safe?
Geraldton scores 198.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 40.3 violent incidents and 61.1 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Geraldton?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 30.6, assault at 24 and theft under $5,000 at 23.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Geraldton?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 192.5 to 193.6.
How much of Geraldton’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 63%: 87% for violent crime and 48% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Geraldton 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).