Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Prince has more crime per resident than 96% of Canadian towns
That puts it at D− for safety, judged on crime the police covering Prince reported from 2023 to 2025. Of the two halves, violence comes to 509 and other offences to 222.3, beside norms of 86.4 and 62.8. Annual rates stand at 52.6 violent incidents and 75.6 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Measured across the Sault Ste. Marie detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Prince
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Prince records 13.8 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.5 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Prince’s index of 302.3 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 67% for Prince (84% violent, 49% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Prince scores 509 for violence and 222.3 for other crime; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ scores 86.4 and 62.8. By type ↓
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 Prince’s grade
How sure: Less sure, as Prince has no detachment of its own in Statistics Canada’s tables and is graded on the closest one’s figures, 14 km away.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in Prince, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Prince runs highest on drug offences (8.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (5.8 per 1,000 against 0.8) and break and enter (13.8 per 1,000 against 2.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 3.3 | 82% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 23.7 | 13.8 | 39% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 3.1 | 100% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 3.5 | 62% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 1.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 30.3 | 17.6 | 21% |
| Mischief | 32 | 18.5 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 2.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 38.3 | 22.2 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 2.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 15 | 8.7 | 82% |
| Impaired driving | 15 | 8.7 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.8 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment closest to Prince, 1,740 residents, recorded about 91 violent incidents a year, 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 130 a year and other violations 97 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
The index in Prince, each year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 324.8, and 2025 the lightest at 278. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, 2023 gave 70.6 and 2025 gave 62.9.
Every year as a table
| Year | Prince | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 278 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 304.2 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 324.8 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Prince, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Prince
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince | 1,113 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Sault Ste. Marie (14 km) | 81,182 | 109.6 | 137 | C− |
| Laird (36 km) | 1,221 | 36.2 | 57.2 | A |
| Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional (36 km) | 1,771 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Algoma, Unorganized, North Part (37 km) | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| St. Joseph (46 km) | 1,560 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
Prince has the highest index of the places around it. Just 13.8 km away, Sault Ste. Marie comes to 109.6, against 302.3. Same police, same number: 3 neighbours drop out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Prince has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–46 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Small numbers. About 1,742 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.”
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Prince
Is Prince safe?
Against a typical 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, Prince’s Crime Severity Index stands at 302.3 for 2023–2025. Its police record 52.6 violent incidents and 75.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Prince?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 29.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 26.8 and mischief at 18.5.
Is crime going up in Prince?
The reverse: 324.8 in 2023 came down to 278 by 2025, 14% lower. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Prince’s crime do police solve?
About 67% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 84% of violent and 49% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Prince together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).