Photo: Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime in Guelph sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Police cleared 46% of incidents, weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size. 2 of the 6 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Weighing it all, Guelph earns B for safety (#390 of 862 in Ontario), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Each year brought 9.1 violent incidents and 25.0 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (10.8 and 25.1 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.
What stands out about safety in Guelph
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Guelph comes 16th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Much like Ontario’s towns
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Guelph, 56.8. 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 Guelph’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: #390 of 862 in Ontario and #765 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Guelph’s crime by kind
Drug offences and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2.7 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 38.3 | 0.2 | 47% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 29 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 9 | 0.06 | 70% |
| Robbery | 43 | 0.3 | 68% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 16.3 | 0.1 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 32.7 | 0.2 | 53% |
| Breaking and entering | 360 | 2.3 | 36% |
| Possession of stolen property | 44.3 | 0.3 | 97% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 187 | 1.2 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 48.3 | 0.3 | 6% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,950.7 | 12.3 | 15% |
| Mischief | 558.3 | 3.5 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 54 | 0.3 | 82% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,123 | 7.1 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 73 | 0.5 | 67% |
| Drug violations | 109.3 | 0.7 | 99% |
| Impaired driving | 128.7 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 20 | 0.1 | 95% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Guelph comes 16th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 8 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Sherbrooke Quebec | 184,135 | 54.6 | 85.1 | B |
| 14 | St. Catharines Ontario | 153,865 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 15 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 16 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 56.8 | 73.1 | B |
| 17 | Delta British Columbia | 124,670 | 59.7 | 69.8 | B− |
| 18 | Coquitlam British Columbia | 173,599 | 59.8 | 61.6 | B− |
| 19 | Barrie Ontario | 174,469 | 60.8 | 73 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | 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 Guelph in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Guelph, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It finished on its highest reading, 57.8 in 2025, having been lowest in 2023 at 55.8. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Guelph | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 57.8 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 56.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 55.8 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Guelph, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Police in Guelph recorded about 1,450 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 3,970 a year and other violations 1,660 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Guelph
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guelph | 160,760 | 56.8 | 73.1 | B |
| Rockwood | 14,870 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| Puslinch | 8,577 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| Grand River South | 10,723 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Grand River North | 3,823 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Cambridge | 165,354 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Idlewood | 5,005 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
Nearby, 2 of 6 places with their own figures have a lower index than Guelph. The nearest of them, Rockwood (5.3 km away), scores 29 against 56.8.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Guelph
Is Guelph safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Guelph’s Crime Severity Index stands at 56.8 for 2023–2025. Its police record 9.1 violent incidents and 25 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Guelph?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 12.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (8.4) and fraud (5).
Is crime going up in Guelph?
Not much: the index went from 55.8 in 2023 to 57.8 in 2025.
How much of Guelph’s crime do police solve?
About 46% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 62% of violent and 36% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Guelph’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).