Photo: P199 · Public domainPer resident, Highlands East records less crime than 77% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 49.5 and other offences for 43.2, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Counting crime the police covering Highlands East reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A− for safety: #223 of 862 in Ontario. Typical years here bring 9.7 violent incidents plus 16.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.9 plus 31.2 in the typical town its size. In 2023 the index stood at 49.2; it fell to 44.3 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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Haliburton Highlands detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Highlands East
A busy place, counted per resident
Seasonal homes make up about 58% of Highlands East’s housing, so summer crime is set against winter’s population and the rates read high. How to read it ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Highlands East is 12th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Ontario
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Highlands East scores 44.7. Towns its size ↓
Above-typical clearance
Police cleared 46% of Highlands East’s crime, weighted by seriousness (76% of violent crime, 33% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The A− for Highlands East, 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: #223 of 862 in Ontario and #407 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.
Highlands East’s crime by kind
Motor vehicle theft 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 | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.10 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48 | 2.3 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 31.3 | 1.5 | 20% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11.3 | 0.5 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 103.7 | 5 | 19% |
| Mischief | 62 | 3 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 12 | 0.6 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 82.3 | 3.9 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13.3 | 0.6 | 30% |
| Drug violations | 12 | 0.6 | 89% |
| Impaired driving | 30 | 1.4 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.10 | — |
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.
Highlands East, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 49.2, and 2024 the lightest at 40.7. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Highlands East | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 44.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 40.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 49.2 | 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 Highlands East, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Highlands East places 12th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 24.4 | 16.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 30.8 | 39.6 | A+ |
| 4 | Howick Ontario | 4,517 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Eganville Ontario | 4,326 | 38.6 | 53.5 | A |
| 9 | Deep River Ontario | 4,353 | 39.3 | 56 | A |
| 10 | Saint-Anselme Quebec | 4,534 | 39.7 | 73 | A |
| 11 | Beaupré Quebec | 4,314 | 42.7 | 62.9 | A− |
| 12 | Highlands East Ontario | 4,372 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| 13 | De Salaberry Manitoba | 4,401 | 47.5 | 54.8 | B+ |
| 14 | Saint-Ambroise Quebec | 4,262 | 48.7 | 80 | B+ |
| 15 | Métabetchouan--Lac-à-la-Croix Quebec | 4,230 | 49.6 | 81.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Prescott Ontario | 4,342 | 111.5 | 167.1 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Highlands East in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
21,100 residents, about 200 violent incidents a year: the police area Highlands East belongs to, 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 350 a year and other violations 190 (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 Highlands East
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands East | 4,372 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| Haliburton Village (18 km) | 8,100 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| Faraday (25 km) | 1,820 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
| Minden Hills (35 km) | 7,841 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| Bancroft (35 km) | 4,331 | 121.5 | 153.2 | D |
| Hastings Highlands (36 km) | 4,957 | 55.2 | 59.6 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Highlands East. Same police, same number: 2 neighbours drop out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 18–36 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Highlands East.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Highlands East’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Highlands East
Is Highlands East safe?
Statistics Canada puts Highlands East at 44.7 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 9.7 and property crimes at 16.7 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Highlands East?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 5.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 5.1 and theft under $5,000 at 5.
Is crime going up in Highlands East?
Down 10%: 49.2 in 2023, 44.3 in 2025.
How much of Highlands East’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 76% of violent crime and 33% of everything else, 46% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Highlands East and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).