Photo: Northern Lights Graffiti from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada · CC BY 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Owen Sound than in 82% of Canadian towns
The index fell from 125.3 in 2023 to 103.5 in 2025. Even so, from 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Owen Sound reported put it at C− for safety: #823 of 862 in Ontario. Of the two halves, violence comes to 154.9 and other offences to 93.1, beside norms of 89.4 and 56. Its police logs show 27.7 violent incidents and 49.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.0 and 30.5.
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 Owen Sound
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Owen Sound records 2 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 110 in Owen Sound. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 60% of crime in Owen Sound ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 80% of violent crime and 47% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Owen Sound stands 36th, the lowest first. 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 sits behind Owen Sound’s C−
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: #823 of 862 in Ontario and #2,009 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.
Which crimes make up Owen Sound’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Owen Sound runs highest on sexual assault (2 per 1,000 against 0.8), theft under $5,000 (28.3 per 1,000 against 11.8) and mischief (7.6 per 1,000 against 3.7). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 10.3 | 0.4 | 94% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16.3 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 9.3 | 0.4 | 75% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 62.3 | 2.6 | 42% |
| Possession of stolen property | 9.7 | 0.4 | 93% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 20 | 0.8 | 37% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 12 | 0.5 | 39% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 665.7 | 28.3 | 26% |
| Mischief | 178.3 | 7.6 | 30% |
| Weapons violations | 30.3 | 1.3 | 63% |
| Administration of justice violations | 589.7 | 25.1 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 34.7 | 1.5 | 70% |
| Drug violations | 19.7 | 0.8 | 88% |
| Impaired driving | 44.3 | 1.9 | 77% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.09 | — |
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.
Owen Sound is 36th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springwater Ontario | 24,144 | 22.8 | 21.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Middlesex Centre Ontario | 21,689 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| 4 | Embrun Ontario | 23,655 | 26.9 | 39.7 | A+ |
| 5 | Oro-Medonte Ontario | 24,681 | 27 | 31.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Steinbach Manitoba | 21,671 | 96.5 | 99.5 | C− |
| 34 | Brockville Ontario | 23,720 | 100.1 | 126.6 | C− |
| 35 | Sept-Îles Quebec | 24,483 | 103.9 | 209.6 | C− |
| 36 | Owen Sound Ontario | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| 37 | Riverview New Brunswick | 22,614 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 38 | Cranbrook British Columbia | 22,703 | 149.5 | 147.3 | D |
| 39 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 200.6 | 214.9 | D |
| 40 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 304.6 | 362 | 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 Owen Sound in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Owen Sound, year by year
Crime Severity Index
From 125.3 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 101.3 in 2024. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Owen Sound | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 103.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 101.3 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 125.3 | 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 Owen Sound, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 650 violent incidents a year reached Owen Sound’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.
Property crime adds about 1,170 a year and other violations 870 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Owen Sound
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Sound | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| Georgian Bluffs (7 km) | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Chatsworth (21 km) | 7,770 | 32 | 38.1 | A |
| Meaford (21 km) | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| Wiarton (23 km) | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| Chesley (27 km) | 7,639 | 33.7 | 38.7 | A |
Owen Sound has the highest index of the places around it. Just 6.9 km away, Georgian Bluffs comes to 29.2, against 110.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Owen Sound with figures are 7–27 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- What 100 means. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Owen Sound
Is Owen Sound safe?
Statistics Canada puts Owen Sound at 110 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 27.7 and property crimes at 49.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Owen Sound?
Top of the list is other Criminal Code offences (33.1 per 1,000 residents a year); theft under $5,000, at 28.3, and assault, at 11.3, follow.
Is crime going up in Owen Sound?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 17%, to 103.5 from 125.3.
How much of Owen Sound’s crime do police solve?
About 60% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 80% of violent and 47% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Owen Sound’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).