Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in North Bay than in 73% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 124.1 for violence and 73.7 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Each of the two towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. North Bay’s letter for safety is C, worked out from crime the police covering North Bay reported over 2023 to 2025: #789 of 862 in Ontario. Year on year, 19.0 violent incidents and 32.9 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 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.
What stands out about safety in North Bay
Drug offences: high for a town its size
North Bay records 2.4 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Over the Ontario norm
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; North Bay, 87.5. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, North Bay comes 33rd, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
Weighted by seriousness, 53% of crime in North Bay ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 68% of violent crime and 44% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 38%. 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 North Bay’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: #789 of 862 in Ontario and #1,803 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 North Bay’s figures
Against the typical town its size, North Bay runs highest on drug offences (2.4 per 1,000 against 0.9), sexual assault (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.8) and robbery (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 21.7 | 0.4 | 83% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 21.3 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 35.3 | 0.6 | 58% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 13.3 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 17.3 | 0.3 | 83% |
| Breaking and entering | 177.7 | 2.9 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 22.7 | 0.4 | 98% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 41.3 | 0.7 | 27% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 54.3 | 0.9 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,031 | 17 | 15% |
| Mischief | 305.3 | 5 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 61 | 1 | 79% |
| Administration of justice violations | 787.3 | 13 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 64 | 1.1 | 60% |
| Drug violations | 147 | 2.4 | 98% |
| Impaired driving | 78.7 | 1.3 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.03 | — |
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 50,000 people or more.
North Bay is 33rd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Bradford Ontario | 51,346 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 3 | Innisfil Ontario | 50,686 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 4 | Alliston Ontario | 50,739 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 30 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 81.6 | 62.7 | C |
| 31 | Charlottetown Prince Edward Island | 48,118 | 86.1 | 87.1 | C |
| 32 | Medicine Hat Alberta | 68,714 | 87.3 | 82.6 | C |
| 33 | North Bay Ontario | 62,062 | 87.5 | 124.1 | C |
| 34 | Fredericton New Brunswick | 74,655 | 92.3 | 101.9 | C |
| 35 | Cornwall Ontario | 54,346 | 104.5 | 126.4 | C− |
| 36 | Brandon Manitoba | 59,444 | 107.2 | 121.5 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 149.3 | 157.2 | 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 North Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
North Bay’s police: about 1,150 violent incidents a year over 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 2,000 property crimes and 1,230 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Year by year in North Bay: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 92.4, and 2024 the lightest at 82.2. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | North Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 87.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 82.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 92.4 | 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 North Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around North Bay
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Bay | 62,062 | 87.5 | 124.1 | C |
| Callander | 4,021 | 63.1 | 107.2 | B− |
| East Ferris | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than North Bay. Closest is Callander, 14 km away, at 63.1 to 87.5 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. 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 North Bay
Is North Bay safe?
With 19 violent incidents and 32.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, North Bay comes to 87.5 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in North Bay?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 17 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (15.9) and assault (7.7).
Is crime going up in North Bay?
Not much: the index went from 92.4 in 2023 to 87.9 in 2025.
How much of North Bay’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 53% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 68% of violent crime and 44% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are North Bay’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).