Photo: maar345 · CC BY 2.0Renfrew records more crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
Both towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Even so, the index fell from 99 in 2023 to 78.9 in 2025. On crime the police covering Renfrew reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C for safety: #795 of 862 in Ontario. A Crime Severity Index of 91.6, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size.
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 Renfrew
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Renfrew records 2.3 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 55% of Renfrew’s crime, weighted by seriousness (72% of violent crime, 38% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 91.6 in Renfrew. Towns its size ↓
The violent half stands out
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Renfrew’s two halves part ways: 165.9 for violence (typical 85.7) and 62.6 for the rest (typical 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 Renfrew’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: #795 of 862 in Ontario and #1,821 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.
Renfrew’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Renfrew runs highest on drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.9) and mischief (7.2 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Robbery | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5.3 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Other violent violations | 7.3 | 0.8 | 78% |
| Breaking and entering | 15.7 | 1.8 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 19% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 97.3 | 11.3 | 35% |
| Mischief | 62.3 | 7.2 | 35% |
| Weapons violations | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 71.7 | 8.3 | 69% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.7 | 1 | 54% |
| Drug violations | 19.7 | 2.3 | 64% |
| Impaired driving | 12.7 | 1.5 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
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.
Renfrew, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 99, and 2025 the lightest at 78.9. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Renfrew | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 96.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 99 | 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 Renfrew, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Renfrew is 31st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Tavistock Ontario | 8,710 | 23.1 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Stone Mills Ontario | 8,523 | 28.2 | 33.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Drummond/North Elmsley Ontario | 8,817 | 28.8 | 34.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 28 | Brownsburg-Chatham Quebec | 8,466 | 76.4 | 122.2 | C+ |
| 29 | Pictou County, Subdivision C Nova Scotia | 8,847 | 83.9 | 99.7 | C |
| 30 | Innisfail Alberta | 8,736 | 83.9 | 76 | C |
| 31 | Renfrew Ontario | 8,721 | 91.6 | 165.9 | C |
| 32 | Hanover Ontario | 8,723 | 91.9 | 108.3 | C |
| 33 | Drumheller Alberta | 8,439 | 101.2 | 101.9 | C− |
| 34 | Kapuskasing Ontario | 8,825 | 105.6 | 172.8 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Renfrew in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Renfrew recorded about 200 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 250 a year and other violations 140 (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 Renfrew
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renfrew | 8,721 | 91.6 | 165.9 | C |
| Horton | 3,550 | 29.1 | 36.6 | A+ |
| Admaston/Bromley | 3,086 | 33.5 | 57.5 | A |
The places around Renfrew all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Horton (8.3 km away), scores 29.1 against 91.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Renfrew
Is Renfrew safe?
With 23 violent incidents and 28.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Renfrew comes to 91.6 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have a median of 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Renfrew?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 11.3, theft under $5,000 at 11.3 and assault at 9.4, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Renfrew?
Down 20%: 99 in 2023, 78.9 in 2025.
How much of Renfrew’s crime do police solve?
About 55% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 72% of violent and 38% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Renfrew 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).