Photo: JustSomePics · CC BY-SA 4.0Meaford has less crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 45.3 and 42. On crime the police covering Meaford reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A− for safety: #207 of 862 in Ontario. Violence and property crime split as 9.0 violent incidents and 18.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Its weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solved, is 43% (the typical Canadian town its size: 33%).
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 Meaford
Lighter than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Meaford moved from 45.9 to 36.7, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Under the Ontario norm
Meaford’s index of 42.7 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Meaford places 16th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Property and other crime weigh more
Violent crime scores 45.3 on Meaford’s index against 89.4 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 42 against 56. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Meaford’s A−
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: #207 of 862 in Ontario and #349 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Meaford’s index fell 20% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
From 45.9 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 36.7 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Meaford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 36.7 | 60 |
| 2024 | 45.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 45.9 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Meaford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Meaford’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Meaford runs highest on break and enter (2.7 per 1,000 against 2.2). Theft under $5,000 and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 33.3 | 2.7 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 6.7 | 0.5 | 94% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12.3 | 1 | 24% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.7 | 0.5 | 25% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 76 | 6.1 | 22% |
| Mischief | 35.3 | 2.8 | 17% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 0.5 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 29.7 | 2.4 | 71% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.3 | 0.5 | 37% |
| Drug violations | 5.3 | 0.4 | 51% |
| Impaired driving | 10 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
About 110 violent incidents a year reached Meaford’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.
Add about 220 property crimes and 74 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
By its index, Meaford stands 16th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Erin Ontario | 12,924 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Georgian Bluffs Ontario | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| 6 | Forest Ontario | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Bromont Quebec | 12,413 | 38.1 | 45.9 | A |
| 14 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 39.1 | 40.3 | A |
| 15 | Grey Highlands Ontario | 12,148 | 39.7 | 47.7 | A |
| 16 | Meaford Ontario | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| 17 | Rideau Lakes Ontario | 12,148 | 44.4 | 80 | A− |
| 18 | Brighton Ontario | 12,900 | 46.9 | 65.6 | B+ |
| 19 | Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Quebec | 12,154 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Meaford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Meaford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaford | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| Thornbury (20 km) | 11,162 | 36.5 | 46.3 | A |
| Owen Sound (21 km) | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| Georgian Bluffs (27 km) | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Chatsworth (27 km) | 7,770 | 32 | 38.1 | A |
Meaford sits above 3 of the 4 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 19.9 km away, Thornbury comes to 36.5, against 42.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 20–27 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Meaford.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- What 100 means. 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 Meaford
Is Meaford safe?
Statistics Canada puts Meaford at 42.7 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people sit at 66 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 9 and property crimes at 18 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Meaford?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (6.1 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 4.6, and fraud, at 4.3, follow.
Is crime going up in Meaford?
No: the index fell 20%, from 45.9 in 2023 to 36.7 in 2025.
How much of Meaford’s crime do police solve?
43%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 72% and non-violent crime at 31%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Meaford’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).