Photo: R Orville Lyttle · CC BY-SA 2.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Prescott than in 83% of Canadian towns
Next door, 2 of 3 towns with figures record less crime per resident. Prescott’s police logs show 26.4 violent incidents and 42.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.9 and 31.2. A Safety Grade of C− follows from crime the police covering Prescott reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #827 of 862 in Ontario. Split in two, the index gives 167.1 for violence and 90.3 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8).
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 Prescott
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Prescott records 3.3 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Prescott, 111.5. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Prescott’s police clear 54%, 78% of violent crime and 36% of the rest. Questions ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Prescott comes 31st, 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.
What’s behind Prescott’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: #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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What police record in Prescott, by type
Against the typical town its size, Prescott runs highest on sexual assault (3.3 per 1,000 against 0.9), drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7) and fraud (8.7 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.3 | 1.2 | 89% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12.7 | 2.9 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7.7 | 1.8 | 30% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4.3 | 1 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 86.3 | 20 | 41% |
| Mischief | 30 | 6.9 | 27% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.8 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 40.3 | 9.3 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5.3 | 1.2 | 57% |
| Drug violations | 10 | 2.3 | 80% |
| Impaired driving | 8 | 1.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.08 | — |
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Prescott comes 31st of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Montague Ontario | 4,414 | 30.8 | 39.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Eganville Ontario | 4,326 | 38.6 | 53.5 | A |
| 7 | Deep River Ontario | 4,353 | 39.3 | 56 | A |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Highlands East Ontario | 4,372 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Victoria County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 4,258 | 82.8 | 120.7 | C |
| 29 | Oka Quebec | 4,312 | 83 | 129.3 | C |
| 30 | Claresholm Alberta | 4,242 | 91.1 | 68.1 | C |
| 31 | Prescott Ontario | 4,342 | 111.5 | 167.1 | C− |
| 32 | Stellarton Nova Scotia | 4,251 | 116.6 | 97.1 | C− |
| 33 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 119.1 | 253 | C− |
| 34 | Ormstown Quebec | 4,259 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Level Alberta | 4,390 | 324 | 498.7 | 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 Prescott in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Prescott’s police: about 110 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.
And about 180 property crimes, plus 85 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Prescott’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
Its most recent year, 2025, was also its heaviest (120); the lightest was 2024 (102.8). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Prescott | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 120 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 102.8 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 111.8 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Prescott, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Prescott
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott | 4,342 | 111.5 | 167.1 | C− |
| Augusta | 7,767 | 34 | 40.2 | A |
| Cardinal | 7,952 | 51.4 | 74.1 | B+ |
| Brockville | 23,720 | 100.1 | 126.6 | C− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Prescott. Closest is Augusta, 6.5 km away, at 34 to 111.5 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Few people behind the figures. About 4,342 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- The index’s scale. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- What clearance means. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Prescott
Is Prescott safe?
Police-reported crime in Prescott scores 111.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 26.4 violent incidents and 42.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Prescott?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 20 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (14) and assault (11.9).
Is crime going up in Prescott?
It has: 111.8 in 2023 became 120 by 2025, a rise of 7%. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Prescott’s crime do police solve?
54%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 78% and non-violent crime at 36%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Prescott’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).