Per resident, Buchanan records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 85.7 for violence and 58.2 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Year on year, 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. What’s more, the overall Safety Grade is B− (#519 of 862 in Ontario), which means close to the middle of Canadian towns, judged on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. The index fell from 68.2 in 2023 to 62.2 in 2025.
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. Shared with the rest of the Hamilton service area: crime severity and crime rate.
What sits behind Buchanan’s B−
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Buchanan 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.
What Hamilton’s police record, 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), assault (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and theft under $5,000 (15 per 1,000 against 11.5).
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.
Buchanan, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 68.2, and 2025 the lightest at 62.2. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Buchanan | 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 Buchanan, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Buchanan
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan | 3,006 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Westcliffe East | 2,832 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Rolston | 6,124 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Gilbert | 3,181 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Balfour | 4,171 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Kirkendall South | 3,033 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Greeningdon | 3,296 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 6 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One figure for the city. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Buchanan carries the city-wide figures.
- The index’s scale. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. 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 Buchanan
Is Buchanan safe?
With 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Buchanan comes to 65.7 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Buchanan?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (15 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 6.7, and other Criminal Code offences, at 5.2, follow.
Is crime going up in Buchanan?
No: the index fell 9%, from 68.2 in 2023 to 62.2 in 2025.
How much of Buchanan’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).