Photo: DimiTalen · CC0Recorded crime in Niagara-on-the-Lake is close to typical for Canadian towns
From 2023 to 2025 its Crime Severity Index stayed steady, 55.4 then 53.8. Violence accounts for an index of 72.6 and other offences for 49.9, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. Weighing it all, Niagara-on-the-Lake earns B for safety (#377 of 862 in Ontario), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. What’s more, typical years here bring 9.4 violent incidents plus 25.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 30.5 in the typical town its size.
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 Niagara Region (St. Catharines) service area.
What stands out about safety in Niagara-on-the-Lake
More people here than live here
Rates in Niagara-on-the-Lake are per resident, while much of the crime involves the many visitors it draws; the figures overstate what residents themselves face. How to read it ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Niagara-on-the-Lake comes 19th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Close to Ontario’s typical town
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Niagara-on-the-Lake, 56.1. 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 Niagara-on-the-Lake’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: #377 of 862 in Ontario and #736 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.
Crime in Niagara-on-the-Lake, type by type
Drug offences and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 11.7 | 0.02 | 79% |
| Sexual violations against children | 139.7 | 0.3 | 47% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 115.3 | 0.2 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 23.7 | 0.04 | 55% |
| Robbery | 184.3 | 0.3 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 31 | 0.06 | 90% |
| Other violent violations | 100 | 0.2 | 56% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,186.7 | 2.2 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 118.3 | 0.2 | 89% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 959.7 | 1.8 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 240.3 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 6,173.3 | 11.5 | 17% |
| Mischief | 1,897 | 3.5 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 100 | 0.2 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,185 | 5.9 | 95% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 278.3 | 0.5 | 51% |
| Drug violations | 280.3 | 0.5 | 89% |
| Impaired driving | 558.3 | 1 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 129.3 | 0.2 | 8% |
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.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 58.9, with 2025 the lightest at 53.8. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 69.5 (2023), then 60 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Niagara-on-the-Lake | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 53.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 58.9 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 55.4 | 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 Niagara-on-the-Lake, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Niagara-on-the-Lake is part of, 551,100 residents, recorded about 5,080 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.
Property crime adds about 13,500 a year and other violations 4,880 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is 19th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Bridgenorth Ontario | 20,628 | 21.2 | 23.1 | A+ |
| 3 | Middlesex Centre Ontario | 21,689 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | South Frontenac Ontario | 21,599 | 27.1 | 32.9 | A+ |
| 6 | Petawawa Ontario | 19,606 | 29.3 | 42.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Mitchell Manitoba | 19,950 | 48.1 | 54.1 | B+ |
| 17 | Rivière-du-Loup Quebec | 20,650 | 48.3 | 72.4 | B+ |
| 18 | Tillsonburg Ontario | 21,450 | 54.1 | 63.3 | B |
| 19 | Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario | 20,080 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 20 | Pelham Ontario | 19,980 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 21 | Corner Brook Newfoundland and Labrador | 20,549 | 58.8 | 70.5 | B |
| 22 | Pitt Meadows British Columbia | 20,892 | 60.8 | 59.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 211.6 | 177.2 | 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 Niagara-on-the-Lake in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Niagara-on-the-Lake
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara-on-the-Lake | 20,080 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| St. Catharines | 153,865 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Niagara Falls | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| Thorold | 33,844 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 3 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. 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.
- Solved cases. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- How serious, not how safe. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A regional police service. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Niagara-on-the-Lake included.
Questions about safety in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Is Niagara-on-the-Lake safe?
The short answer is an index of 56.1 for Niagara-on-the-Lake (2023–2025), built from 9.4 violent incidents and 25.1 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Niagara-on-the-Lake?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 11.5, other Criminal Code offences at 6.8 and fraud at 5.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Niagara-on-the-Lake?
Barely: 55.4 in 2023, 53.8 in 2025.
How much of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s crime do police solve?
37%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 49% and non-violent crime at 30%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Niagara-on-the-Lake and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).