Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Sarnia records more crime than two in three Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 79.4 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town its size scores 60.3. Scored on crime the police covering Sarnia reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C for safety: #768 of 862 in Ontario. Per 1,000 residents a year, 18.7 violent incidents and 33.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical 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 Sarnia
Down since 2023
Sarnia’s index went from 88.2 in 2023 to 62.3 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 64.3 to 59.2. Year by year ↓
Police clear more here
Weighted by seriousness, 57% of crime in Sarnia ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 78% of violent crime and 44% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 38%. Questions ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Sarnia records 9.2 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Over the Ontario norm
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Sarnia, 79.4. 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 Sarnia’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: #768 of 862 in Ontario and #1,630 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
In Sarnia, down 29% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 88.2, and its lowest 2025, at 62.3. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Sarnia | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 87.6 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 88.2 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Sarnia, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Sarnia’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Sarnia runs highest on assault (9.2 per 1,000 against 4.9), theft under $5,000 (18.3 per 1,000 against 11.5) and break and enter (3.4 per 1,000 against 2.2). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.7 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 17 | 0.2 | 96% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 35 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 4.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 35.3 | 0.4 | 62% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 17.3 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 15.7 | 0.2 | 68% |
| Breaking and entering | 273 | 3.4 | 35% |
| Possession of stolen property | 25.7 | 0.3 | 81% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 102.7 | 1.3 | 21% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 15.3 | 0.2 | 28% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 1,466 | 18.3 | 22% |
| Mischief | 392 | 4.9 | 25% |
| Weapons violations | 81.7 | 1 | 56% |
| Administration of justice violations | 987 | 12.3 | 95% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 116.7 | 1.5 | 38% |
| Drug violations | 72.3 | 0.9 | 87% |
| Impaired driving | 72 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.7 | 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 50,000 people or more.
Among 40 towns its size, Sarnia places 27th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Georgetown Ontario | 68,265 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 3 | Lindsay Ontario | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Caledonia Ontario | 56,059 | 37.2 | 37.5 | A |
| 7 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Drummondville Quebec | 85,560 | 72.2 | 124.7 | C+ |
| 25 | Belleville Ontario | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
| 26 | Saint-Jérôme Quebec | 85,160 | 77.6 | 129.6 | C+ |
| 27 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 79.4 | 105.1 | C |
| 28 | Saint John New Brunswick | 79,371 | 81.5 | 114.2 | C |
| 29 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 66,624 | 81.6 | 62.7 | C |
| 30 | Medicine Hat Alberta | 68,714 | 87.3 | 82.6 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Sarnia in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 1,500 violent incidents a year on Sarnia’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 2,690 a year and other violations 1,710 (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 Sarnia
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarnia | 80,539 | 79.4 | 105.1 | C |
| Point Edward (4 km) | 1,989 | 85.1 | 123.4 | C |
| Plympton-Wyoming (20 km) | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
| Corunna (20 km) | 15,872 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| Petrolia (21 km) | 6,422 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
| Enniskillen (22 km) | 3,174 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
Sarnia sits above 1 of the 5 neighbours with figures of their own. Closest is Corunna, 19.8 km away, at 32.2 to 79.4 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Sarnia has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 4–22 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- 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.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
Questions about safety in Sarnia
Is Sarnia safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Sarnia scores 79.4 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 18.7 violent and 33.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Sarnia?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 18.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 18.3 and assault at 9.2.
Is crime going up in Sarnia?
The reverse: 88.2 in 2023 came down to 62.3 by 2025, 29% lower.
How much of Sarnia’s crime do police solve?
57%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 78% and non-violent crime at 44%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Sarnia alone, so the figures are the town’s.
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).