Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Mitchell has less crime per resident than 79% of Canadian towns
Year on year, 9.0 violent incidents and 16.2 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Of the two halves, violence comes to 52.1 and other offences to 41.3, beside norms of 89.4 and 56. On crime the police covering Mitchell reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A− for safety: #217 of 862 in Ontario.
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 Mitchell
Less severe than in 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Mitchell moved from 48.3 to 33.7, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 49% of Mitchell’s crime, weighted by seriousness (81% of violent crime, 33% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Mitchell stands 12th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Ontario
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 44.1 in Mitchell. 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 Mitchell’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: #217 of 862 in Ontario and #379 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Mitchell’s index dropped 30%
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 50.3 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 33.7 in 2025. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Mitchell | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 33.7 | 60 |
| 2024 | 50.3 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 48.3 | 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 Mitchell, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Mitchell’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Mitchell runs highest on sexual assault (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.8). 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 | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 23.3 | 2.4 | 24% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 15 | 1.5 | 22% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 44.3 | 4.5 | 28% |
| Mischief | 32 | 3.2 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 36 | 3.6 | 68% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 4.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Impaired driving | 19.3 | 1.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
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.
By its index, Mitchell stands 12th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | 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 |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Laurentian Valley Ontario | 9,714 | 36.3 | 44.5 | A |
| 10 | Saint-Zotique Quebec | 10,445 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 11 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| 12 | Mitchell Ontario | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| 13 | Wiarton Ontario | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| 14 | Lorraine Quebec | 9,721 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| 15 | Seaforth Ontario | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Wheatland County Alberta | 10,150 | 298.8 | 486.4 | 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 Mitchell in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Mitchell recorded about 90 violent incidents a year, 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 160 property crimes and 87 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Mitchell
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| Seaforth (19 km) | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
| Perth South (21 km) | 4,055 | 52.5 | 75.2 | B+ |
| Stratford (21 km) | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| Perth East (21 km) | 13,423 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| St. Marys (25 km) | 8,203 | 52.5 | 75.2 | B+ |
Nearby, 1 of 5 places with their own figures have a lower index than Mitchell. Just 21.5 km away, Perth East comes to 35, against 44.1.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 19–25 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Mitchell.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
Questions about safety in Mitchell
Is Mitchell safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 44.1 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: that is where Mitchell stands, with 9 violent and 16.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Mitchell?
Police record other Criminal Code offences most, 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (4.6) and theft under $5,000 (4.5).
Is crime going up in Mitchell?
Down 30%: 48.3 in 2023, 33.7 in 2025.
How much of Mitchell’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 81% of violent crime and 33% of everything else, 49% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Mitchell’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).