Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Balfour is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Overall, it grades B− for safety (#519 of 862 in Ontario). The local count comes to 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. The index fell from 68.2 in 2023 to 62.2 in 2025. Of the two halves, violence comes to 85.7 and other offences to 58.2, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2.
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. Measured across the Hamilton service area: crime severity and crime rate.
The grade: B− for Balfour
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Balfour can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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: #519 of 862 in Ontario and #1,018 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.
Hamilton’s crime, type by type
These are Hamilton’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Hamilton runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.7), drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 10 | 0.02 | 83% |
| Sexual violations against children | 95 | 0.2 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 122.3 | 0.2 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 77.3 | 0.1 | 45% |
| Robbery | 380.7 | 0.6 | 36% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 37 | 0.06 | 83% |
| Other violent violations | 117.7 | 0.2 | 50% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,695 | 2.7 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 237.3 | 0.4 | 88% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,925.7 | 3.1 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 283.3 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,419.7 | 15 | 7% |
| Mischief | 2,898.7 | 4.6 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 192 | 0.3 | 76% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,806.3 | 4.5 | 93% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 216.7 | 0.3 | 46% |
| Drug violations | 821.7 | 1.3 | 73% |
| Impaired driving | 397 | 0.6 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 11.3 | 0.02 | 71% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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.
Balfour, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 68.2, against a low of 62.2 in 2025. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Balfour | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 66.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 68.2 | 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 Balfour, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Balfour
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balfour | 4,171 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Greeningdon | 3,296 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Hill Park | 3,262 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Centremount | 4,053 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Buchanan | 3,006 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Bruleville | 4,310 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Rolston | 6,124 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
6 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The whole city’s numbers. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Balfour carries the city-wide figures.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
Questions about safety in Balfour
Is Balfour safe?
Balfour measures 65.7 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Balfour?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 15 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 6.7 and other Criminal Code offences at 5.2.
Is crime going up in Balfour?
It went down 9% between 2023 and 2025, from 68.2 to 62.2.
How much of Balfour’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 34% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 50% of violent crime and 24% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Whose figures are these?
The city police’s, as reported for the whole city.
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).