Photo: William B. Grice · CC BY-SA 4.0Grimsby sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 72.6 and 49.9. Weighing it all, Grimsby earns B for safety (#377 of 862 in Ontario), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Add to that, each of the 4 towns on its borders with figures records more crime per resident. Per 1,000 residents a year, 9.4 violent incidents and 25.1 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 30.5 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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Niagara Region (St. Catharines) service area.
What stands out about safety in Grimsby
In the middle of towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Grimsby is 22nd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Much like Ontario’s towns
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Grimsby scores 56.1. 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.
Grimsby: B for safety, and why
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.
Grimsby’s crime by kind
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.
Year by year in Grimsby: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked in 2024 at 58.9, between two lighter years; the lowest, 2025, came in at 53.8. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 69.5 (2023), then 60 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Grimsby | 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 Grimsby, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Grimsby 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Grimsby places 22nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fergus Ontario | 34,565 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Picton Ontario | 27,544 | 35.5 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Rockland Ontario | 30,375 | 38.2 | 56.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Orangeville Ontario | 33,070 | 43.5 | 50.6 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 19 | Enfield Nova Scotia | 26,960 | 55.1 | 63.4 | B |
| 20 | Thetford Mines Quebec | 27,155 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| 21 | Thorold Ontario | 33,844 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 22 | Grimsby Ontario | 31,478 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 23 | Beamsville Ontario | 28,356 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 24 | Leamington Ontario | 34,653 | 57.2 | 81.7 | B |
| 25 | Collingwood Ontario | 28,366 | 57.8 | 66.4 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 171.7 | 196.7 | 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 Grimsby in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Grimsby
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grimsby | 31,478 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Fifty Point | 3,690 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Industrial | 6,690 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Trillium | 2,967 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Smithville | 16,586 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Beamsville | 28,356 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Westmeria | 2,646 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Grimsby. Sharing its police with 2 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- One service, several municipalities. The service that polices Grimsby reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
- What 100 means. 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.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Grimsby
Is Grimsby safe?
Its police recorded 9.4 violent incidents and 25.1 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Grimsby a Crime Severity Index of 56.1. For Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the typical index is 66.
What is the most common crime in Grimsby?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 11.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 6.8 and fraud at 5.4.
Is crime going up in Grimsby?
It held about level between 2023 and 2025, 55.4 to 53.8.
How much of Grimsby’s crime do police solve?
About 37% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 49% of violent and 30% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Grimsby 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).