Photo: Hearst1958 · CC BY-SA 4.0Hearst sees more crime per resident than 62% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure rose, 71.4 to 76.5. Violence accounts for an index of 97.9 and other offences for 65.4, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. It grades C+ for safety on crime the police covering Hearst reported from 2023 to 2025: #734 of 862 in Ontario. On top of that, the local count comes to 16.9 violent incidents and 18.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.9 and 31.2 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 Hearst
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Hearst records 3 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Above-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 64% of crime in Hearst ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 78% of violent crime and 56% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Over the Ontario norm
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 74.2 in Hearst. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Hearst stands 25th, the lowest first. 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.
The C+ for Hearst, and how it is built
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: #734 of 862 in Ontario and #1,555 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.
Which crimes make up Hearst’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Hearst runs highest on drug offences (3 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.9) and fraud (5.9 per 1,000 against 4.9). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12 | 2.4 | 61% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 27 | 5.3 | 43% |
| Mischief | 16.7 | 3.3 | 36% |
| Weapons violations | 7 | 1.4 | 90% |
| Administration of justice violations | 49.7 | 9.8 | 89% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4 | 0.8 | — |
| Drug violations | 15.3 | 3 | 76% |
| Impaired driving | 8.7 | 1.7 | 92% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.7 | 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.
Hearst, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 76.5; the lightest was 2023, at 71.4. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Hearst | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 74.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 71.4 | 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 Hearst, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Hearst is 25th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Bruce Peninsula Ontario | 5,018 | 29.3 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Centre Hastings Ontario | 5,170 | 46.8 | 68 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Hastings Highlands Ontario | 4,957 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 22 | Saint-Germain-de-Grantham Quebec | 5,054 | 72.2 | 124.7 | C+ |
| 23 | Coverdale New Brunswick | 5,167 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 24 | Rivière-Rouge Quebec | 4,882 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 25 | Hearst Ontario | 5,032 | 74.2 | 97.9 | C+ |
| 26 | Gibsons British Columbia | 5,090 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| 27 | Montréal-Ouest Quebec | 5,197 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 28 | Montréal-Est Quebec | 5,112 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 37 | Tyendinaga Ontario | 5,005 | 131.9 | 280.3 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Nipawin Saskatchewan | 5,033 | 182.3 | 163.9 | 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 Hearst in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 85 violent incidents a year reached Hearst’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.
Property crime adds about 92 a year and other violations 92 (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 Hearst
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearst | 5,032 | 74.2 | 97.9 | C+ |
| Kapuskasing (95 km) | 8,825 | 105.6 | 172.8 | C− |
| Smooth Rock Falls (154 km) | 1,259 | 69.8 | 138.7 | C+ |
Hearst sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Smooth Rock Falls, 154.4 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 69.8 to 74.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 95–154 km from Hearst.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Solved cases. 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.
- How serious, not how safe. 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 Hearst
Is Hearst safe?
Hearst measures 74.2 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 16.9 violent incidents and 18.3 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Hearst?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 12.6 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (7.3) and fraud (5.9).
Is crime going up in Hearst?
Yes: the index rose 7%, from 71.4 in 2023 to 76.5 in 2025.
How much of Hearst’s crime do police solve?
About 64% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 78% of violent and 56% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Hearst alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).