Guernsey is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Its violent half comes to 85.7 and its non-violent half to 58.2, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Guernsey grades B− for safety overall (#519 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, by 2025 the index had dropped to 62.2, down from 68.2 in 2023. Police counts work out at 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ they are 10.8 and 25.1.
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.
What’s behind Guernsey’s grade
How sure: Less sure than most, because no figure exists for Guernsey on its own; the city’s, for its whole area, stands in.
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.
Crime across Hamilton, 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.
Guernsey, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 68.2 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 62.2. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ moved from 64.3 to 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Guernsey | 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 Guernsey, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Guernsey
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guernsey | 3,808 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Westmeria | 2,646 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Poplar Park | 3,031 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Highway Valley | 4,469 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Lakeshore | 3,127 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Eastdale | 2,703 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Riverdale East | 3,416 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
Sharing its police with 6 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
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Not the neighbourhood’s own. The figures for Guernsey are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Guernsey
Is Guernsey safe?
Guernsey scores 65.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Guernsey?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 15 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (6.7) and other Criminal Code offences (5.2).
Is crime going up in Guernsey?
No: the index fell 9%, from 68.2 in 2023 to 62.2 in 2025.
How much of Guernsey’s crime do police solve?
About 34% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 50% of violent and 24% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the 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).