Photo: Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Port Elgin records less crime than 67% of Canadian towns
Behind the grade sit 15.3 violent incidents and 23.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Graded on crime the police covering Port Elgin reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores B+ for safety: #283 of 862 in Ontario. Of the two halves, violence comes to 68.5 and other offences to 43.1, beside norms of 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 Port Elgin
Police clear more here
Weighted by seriousness, 63% of crime in Port Elgin ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 89% of violent crime and 46% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
Lighter than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Port Elgin stood at 56.2, by 2025 at 45.8. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Port Elgin stands 16th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Port Elgin records 5.8 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The B+ for Port Elgin, and how it is built
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: #283 of 862 in Ontario and #547 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 Port Elgin’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Port Elgin runs highest on mischief (5.8 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.8) and sexual assault (1 per 1,000 against 0.8). Fraud and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.3 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.3 | 82% |
| Breaking and entering | 34 | 1.9 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.3 | 80% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 13.3 | 0.8 | 35% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 197.7 | 11.2 | 20% |
| Mischief | 102.3 | 5.8 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 12 | 0.7 | 89% |
| Administration of justice violations | 109.3 | 6.2 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 0.7 | 72% |
| Drug violations | 20.3 | 1.2 | 99% |
| Impaired driving | 33.3 | 1.9 | 96% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
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.
Port Elgin’s index fell 18% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 56.2 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 45.8. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Port Elgin | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 45.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 48.2 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 56.2 | 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 Port Elgin, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Around 270 violent incidents a year on Port Elgin’s police records (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 410 a year and other violations 240 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Port Elgin comes 16th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 26.7 | 23.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Petawawa Ontario | 19,606 | 29.3 | 42.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Port Hope Ontario | 18,446 | 31.2 | 36.4 | A |
| 5 | Stayner Ontario | 16,571 | 31.5 | 35.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Loyalist Ontario | 19,761 | 35.7 | 52.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Sainte-Catherine Quebec | 17,782 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| 14 | Esquimalt British Columbia | 19,512 | 43 | 65.7 | A− |
| 15 | Bracebridge Ontario | 18,676 | 46.7 | 69.2 | A− |
| 16 | Port Elgin Ontario | 18,167 | 50.1 | 68.5 | B+ |
| 17 | Canmore Alberta | 17,341 | 50.1 | 41.1 | B+ |
| 18 | Listowel Ontario | 18,168 | 53 | 54 | B+ |
| 19 | Smithville Ontario | 16,586 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 204.1 | 204.7 | 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 Port Elgin in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Port Elgin
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Elgin | 18,167 | 50.1 | 68.5 | B+ |
| Chesley (21 km) | 7,639 | 33.7 | 38.7 | A |
| Wiarton (27 km) | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| Kincardine (30 km) | 13,169 | 34.4 | 43.4 | A |
The places around Port Elgin all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Chesley (21 km away), scores 33.7 against 50.1.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Port Elgin has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 21–30 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. 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 Port Elgin
Is Port Elgin safe?
Port Elgin’s Crime Severity Index is 50.1 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 15.3 violent incidents and 23.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 66.
What is the most common crime in Port Elgin?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 11.2 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (9.6) and assault (6.1).
Is crime going up in Port Elgin?
It went down 18% between 2023 and 2025, from 56.2 to 45.8.
How much of Port Elgin’s crime do police solve?
63%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 89% and non-violent crime at 46%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Port Elgin 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).