Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lindsay has less crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Annual rates stand at 6.7 violent incidents and 12.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. Measured on crime the police covering Lindsay reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of A: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Its violent half comes to 42.8 and its non-violent half to 27.5, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. In 2023 the index stood at 34.8; it fell to 30.9 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 City of Kawartha Lakes detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Lindsay
Under the Ontario norm
Lindsay’s index of 31.7 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Lindsay places 3rd 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 Lindsay’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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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 police record in Lindsay, by type
Break and enter and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 12 | 0.2 | 92% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Other violent violations | 8.3 | 0.2 | 64% |
| Breaking and entering | 56 | 1 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.7 | 0.1 | 93% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 49 | 0.9 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 19 | 0.3 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 182.7 | 3.3 | 14% |
| Mischief | 128.7 | 2.3 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 12.3 | 0.2 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 82.3 | 1.5 | 74% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 20 | 0.4 | 39% |
| Drug violations | 29.7 | 0.5 | 80% |
| Impaired driving | 80 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 5 | 0.09 | 14% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Lindsay is 3rd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 3 | Lindsay Ontario | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| 4 | Blainville Quebec | 61,739 | 34.9 | 41.4 | A |
| 5 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 36 | 33.7 | A |
| 6 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Simcoe Ontario | 75,618 | 47 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Newmarket Ontario | 95,763 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 13 | Aurora Ontario | 67,385 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Welland Ontario | 66,480 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Lindsay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 370 violent incidents a year across the police area of 55,500 residents that includes Lindsay, 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 670 property crimes and 280 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Lindsay, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (34.8); the low point came in 2024, at 29.4. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lindsay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 30.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 29.4 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 34.8 | 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 Lindsay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Lindsay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lindsay | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| Trent Lakes (27 km) | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| Bridgenorth (29 km) | 20,628 | 21.2 | 23.1 | A+ |
| Beaverton (32 km) | 13,710 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| Peterborough (33 km) | 97,834 | 71.7 | 89.4 | C+ |
| Port Perry (36 km) | 23,928 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
Of 5 places nearby with their own figures, 2 come in under Lindsay. The nearest of them, Trent Lakes (27.3 km away), scores 20.6 against 31.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 27–36 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Lindsay.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- What the index measures. 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.”
- A detachment’s area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Lindsay together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in Lindsay
Is Lindsay safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Lindsay’s Crime Severity Index stands at 31.7 for 2023–2025. Its police record 6.7 violent incidents and 12.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Lindsay?
Most often it is fraud: 4.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 3.5 and theft under $5,000 at 3.3.
Is crime going up in Lindsay?
It went down 11% between 2023 and 2025, from 34.8 to 30.9.
How much of Lindsay’s crime do police solve?
45%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 79% and non-violent crime at 25%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lindsay together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).