Photo: Wesoree · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is lower in Thornlea than in 66% of Canadian towns
For every 1,000 residents, 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, the figures are 10.8 and 25.1. Of the two halves, violence comes to 67.4 and other offences to 47.4, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2. Its Safety Grade is B+, on crime the police covering Thornlea reported from 2023 to 2025: #295 of 862 in Ontario. Add to that, in 2023 the index stood at 54.6; it fell to 50.3 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. Measured across the York Region service area: crime severity and crime rate.
What sits behind Thornlea’s B+
How sure: A less certain grade than most: it reads the city’s overall figure, which can hide how Thornlea itself compares.
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: #295 of 862 in Ontario and #570 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.
Which crimes make up York Region’s figures
These are York Region’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, York Region runs highest on motor vehicle theft (2.6 per 1,000 against 1.7). Sexual assault and mischief sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 14.7 | 0.01 | 80% |
| Sexual violations against children | 128.7 | 0.1 | 58% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 153.7 | 0.1 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 97.7 | 0.08 | 38% |
| Robbery | 617.3 | 0.5 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 91.7 | 0.07 | 65% |
| Other violent violations | 290.7 | 0.2 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,306 | 1.8 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 291 | 0.2 | 85% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3,372.3 | 2.6 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 732.7 | 0.6 | 15% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 10,573 | 8.3 | 25% |
| Mischief | 2,944 | 2.3 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 266.3 | 0.2 | 66% |
| Administration of justice violations | 4,033.3 | 3.1 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 552.7 | 0.4 | 58% |
| Drug violations | 636 | 0.5 | 91% |
| Impaired driving | 1,207.3 | 0.9 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3,411.7 | 2.7 | 8% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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.
Thornlea, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (54.6); 2025 was the lightest, at 50.3. The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Thornlea | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 53.6 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 54.6 | 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 Thornlea, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Thornlea
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornlea | 20,872 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| German Mills | 11,923 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Langstaff | 8,147 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Steeles Corners | 9,468 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Bayview Woods-Steeles | 12,499 | 66 | 92.6 | A− |
| Hillcrest Village | 16,374 | 66 | 92.6 | B+ |
| Newtonbrook East | 15,996 | 66 | 92.6 | B |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Thornlea. The comparison skips 3 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- City-wide figures. The figures for Thornlea are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
Questions about safety in Thornlea
Is Thornlea safe?
Police-reported crime in Thornlea scores 52.8 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Thornlea?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 8.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come fraud at 5.3 and assault at 4.9.
Is crime going up in Thornlea?
It went down 8% between 2023 and 2025, from 54.6 to 50.3.
How much of Thornlea’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 35% of crime (53% of violent crime, 25% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ clears 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police service that covers the whole city.
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).