Photo: Francine Pallister · CC BY-SA 3.0Malahide records less crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Violence and property crime split as 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. That puts it at A for safety, judged on crime the police covering Malahide reported from 2023 to 2025: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Of the two halves, violence comes to 41.2 and other offences to 27.9, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8. Its two neighbours with figures both record more crime per resident.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Elgin County detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Malahide
Below Ontario’s typical town
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 31.5 in Malahide. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Malahide stands 7th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Malahide’s police clear 43%, 80% of violent crime and 20% of the rest. Questions ↓
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 Malahide’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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What police record in Malahide, 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 | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48.3 | 1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74.3 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 20.3 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 138.3 | 2.9 | 11% |
| Mischief | 99 | 2.1 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.2 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 74.3 | 1.5 | 73% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 0.4 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 59.3 | 1.2 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 7 | 0.1 | 0% |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Malahide places 7th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier Quebec | 9,830 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 5 | Palmerston Ontario | 10,029 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 6 | Thamesford Ontario | 9,755 | 30.7 | 22.5 | A+ |
| 7 | Malahide Ontario | 9,995 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 8 | Mono Ontario | 10,036 | 34.9 | 55.4 | A |
| 9 | Laurentian Valley Ontario | 9,714 | 36.3 | 44.5 | A |
| 10 | Saint-Zotique Quebec | 10,445 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Mitchell Ontario | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| 13 | Wiarton Ontario | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Seaforth Ontario | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Malahide in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 330 violent incidents a year across the police area of 48,900 residents that includes Malahide, 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 560 property crimes and 220 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
In Malahide, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 35.4, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 29.4. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Malahide | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 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 Malahide, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Malahide
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malahide | 9,995 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Aylmer | 8,371 | 49 | 63.6 | B+ |
| Bayham | 7,935 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Central Elgin | 15,230 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| St. Thomas | 49,388 | 65.2 | 72.6 | B− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Malahide. The table leaves out 2 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so Malahide’s are shared with its surroundings.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. 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 Malahide
Is Malahide safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Malahide’s Crime Severity Index stands at 31.5 for 2023–2025. Its police record 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Malahide?
Assault is the most common, at 3.8 per 1,000 residents a year, then fraud (3.5) and theft under $5,000 (2.9).
Is crime going up in Malahide?
Not much: the index went from 29.8 in 2023 to 29.4 in 2025.
How much of Malahide’s crime do police solve?
About 43% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 80% of violent and 20% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Malahide and everywhere else it polices.
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).