Photo: Tier2Cell245 · CC BY 4.0Pembroke sees more crime per resident than 83% of Canadian towns
Counting crime the police covering Pembroke reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #827 of 862 in Ontario. The index rose from 107.4 in 2023 to 113.2 in 2025. Typical years here bring 30.7 violent incidents plus 36.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 30.5 in the typical town its size. Split in two, the index gives 153.4 for violence and 96.5 for everything else (normally 89.4 and 56).
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 Pembroke
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Pembroke records 5 incidents of drug offences 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 ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Pembroke, 112.1. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 54% of Pembroke’s crime, weighted by seriousness (65% of violent crime, 47% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Pembroke comes 34th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. 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.
Pembroke: C− for safety, and why
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: #827 of 862 in Ontario and #2,208 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.
Pembroke’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Pembroke runs highest on drug offences (5 per 1,000 against 0.8), sexual assault (2.9 per 1,000 against 0.8) and mischief (8.2 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 | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.3 | 0.6 | 72% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 10.7 | 0.7 | 96% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 5 | 0.3 | 60% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.4 | 53% |
| Breaking and entering | 41.7 | 2.7 | 42% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.3 | 80% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 16.3 | 1.1 | 57% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6 | 0.4 | 17% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 224 | 14.6 | 31% |
| Mischief | 125.7 | 8.2 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 17 | 1.1 | 45% |
| Administration of justice violations | 243.3 | 15.8 | 80% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 23.7 | 1.5 | 35% |
| Drug violations | 76.3 | 5 | 69% |
| Impaired driving | 31 | 2 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Pembroke places 34th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorchester Ontario | 15,475 | 28.2 | 19.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Almonte Ontario | 16,073 | 28.8 | 36.6 | A+ |
| 3 | Rockwood Ontario | 14,870 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 4 | Central Elgin Ontario | 15,230 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Truro Nova Scotia | 14,652 | 95 | 104.2 | C− |
| 32 | Tracadie New Brunswick | 16,453 | 97.1 | 118.2 | C− |
| 33 | Parksville British Columbia | 15,371 | 107.4 | 88.3 | C− |
| 34 | Pembroke Ontario | 15,479 | 112.1 | 153.4 | C− |
| 35 | Powell River British Columbia | 14,947 | 113.5 | 99.4 | C− |
| 36 | La Crète Alberta | 14,488 | 113.5 | 218.8 | C− |
| 37 | Kenora Ontario | 15,892 | 127.1 | 186.8 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | North Battleford Saskatchewan | 14,882 | 528.4 | 591.9 | 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 Pembroke in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 470 violent incidents a year reached Pembroke’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.
And about 560 property crimes, plus 450 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Pembroke, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 115.7 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 107.4 in 2023. Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Pembroke | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 113.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 115.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 107.4 | 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 Pembroke, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Pembroke
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pembroke | 15,479 | 112.1 | 153.4 | C− |
| Laurentian Valley | 9,714 | 36.3 | 44.5 | A |
| L'Isle-aux-Allumettes | 1,413 | 55.7 | 83.9 | B |
| Petawawa | 19,606 | 29.3 | 42.6 | A+ |
The places around Pembroke all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Laurentian Valley (4.1 km away), scores 36.3 against 112.1.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Pembroke
Is Pembroke safe?
The short answer is an index of 112.1 for Pembroke (2023–2025), built from 30.7 violent incidents and 36.7 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Pembroke?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 21.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 14.6 and assault at 14.2.
Is crime going up in Pembroke?
Yes: the index rose 5%, from 107.4 in 2023 to 113.2 in 2025.
How much of Pembroke’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 65% of violent crime and 47% of everything else, 54% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Pembroke and nowhere else.
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).