Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Hanover records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
In a usual year, 17.0 violent incidents and 37.9 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2. Scored on crime the police covering Hanover reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C for safety: #795 of 862 in Ontario. All 3 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. The index that weighs each crime by its seriousness comes to 91.9 here (2023–2025 mean), and to 68.5 for the typical Canadian 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 Hanover
Above-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 69% of crime in Hanover ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 88% of violent crime and 59% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Down since 2023
Hanover’s index went from 96.9 in 2023 to 69.6 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Hanover’s index of 91.9 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Hanover places 32nd from the lowest index. 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 Hanover’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: #795 of 862 in Ontario and #1,821 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Year by year in Hanover: down 28%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 109.1, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 69.6. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Hanover | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 69.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 109.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 96.9 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Hanover, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Hanover is 32nd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Tavistock Ontario | 8,710 | 23.1 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Stone Mills Ontario | 8,523 | 28.2 | 33.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Drummond/North Elmsley Ontario | 8,817 | 28.8 | 34.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Pictou County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 8,847 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| 30 | Innisfail Alberta | 8,736 | 83.9 | 76 | C |
| 31 | Renfrew Ontario | 8,721 | 91.6 | 165.9 | C |
| 32 | Hanover Ontario | 8,723 | 91.9 | 108.3 | C |
| 33 | Drumheller Alberta | 8,439 | 101.2 | 101.9 | C− |
| 34 | Kapuskasing Ontario | 8,825 | 105.6 | 172.8 | C− |
| 35 | Trail British Columbia | 8,539 | 114.1 | 118.2 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Hanover in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Which crimes make up Hanover’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Hanover runs highest on drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.7), fraud (7 per 1,000 against 4.9) and assault (9.3 per 1,000 against 6.7). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 27 | 3.2 | 49% |
| Possession of stolen property | 13 | 1.5 | 85% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12 | 1.4 | 39% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 38% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 158 | 18.5 | 38% |
| Mischief | 47.7 | 5.6 | 41% |
| Weapons violations | 6.7 | 0.8 | 90% |
| Administration of justice violations | 109.3 | 12.8 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.2 | 87% |
| Drug violations | 11.3 | 1.3 | 91% |
| Impaired driving | 19.7 | 2.3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.1 | — |
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
About 150 violent incidents a year reached Hanover’s police, 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 320 property crimes and 200 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Hanover
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Hanover. Closest is Walkerton, 9.6 km away, at 47.4 to 91.9 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- 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. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Hanover
Is Hanover safe?
Police-reported crime in Hanover scores 91.9 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 17 violent incidents and 37.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Hanover?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 18.5, other Criminal Code offences at 16.6 and assault at 9.3, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Hanover?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 28%, to 69.6 from 96.9.
How much of Hanover’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 69%: 88% for violent crime and 59% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Hanover’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).