Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Sault Ste. Marie records more crime than 82% of Canadian towns
Counting crime the police covering Sault Ste. Marie reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #823 of 862 in Ontario. For every 1,000 residents, 16.2 violent incidents and 50.6 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 10.8 and 25.1. Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 137 and 99.6. By 2025 the index had dropped to 107.3, down from 118.3 in 2023.
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 Sault Ste. Marie
Break and enter: high for a town its size
Sault Ste. Marie records 6.4 incidents of break and enter per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Above Ontario’s typical town
Sault Ste. Marie’s index of 109.6 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Sault Ste. Marie places 34th from the lowest 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 Sault Ste. Marie’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: #823 of 862 in Ontario and #2,009 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.
Which crimes make up Sault Ste. Marie’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Sault Ste. Marie runs highest on break and enter (6.4 per 1,000 against 2.2), robbery (1 per 1,000 against 0.4) and theft under $5,000 (28.7 per 1,000 against 11.5). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4 | 0.05 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 24.7 | 0.3 | 47% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 39 | 0.5 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 13 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Robbery | 82 | 1 | 48% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 15 | 0.2 | 91% |
| Other violent violations | 17 | 0.2 | 61% |
| Breaking and entering | 518.7 | 6.4 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 31.3 | 0.4 | 87% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 107 | 1.3 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 87.7 | 1.1 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 2,323.7 | 28.7 | 10% |
| Mischief | 551 | 6.8 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 41.7 | 0.5 | 54% |
| Administration of justice violations | 1,171 | 14.4 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 31 | 0.4 | 72% |
| Drug violations | 106 | 1.3 | 97% |
| Impaired driving | 36 | 0.4 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4 | 0.05 | — |
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.
Sault Ste. Marie comes 34th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | 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 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Simcoe Ontario | 75,618 | 47 | 59.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| 32 | Fredericton New Brunswick | 74,655 | 92.3 | 101.9 | C |
| 33 | Brandon Manitoba | 59,444 | 107.2 | 121.5 | C− |
| 34 | Sault Ste. Marie Ontario | 81,182 | 109.6 | 137 | C− |
| 35 | Moncton New Brunswick | 102,378 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 36 | Fort McMurray Alberta | 81,611 | 124.5 | 117.5 | D |
| 37 | Chilliwack British Columbia | 105,520 | 142.2 | 158.4 | D |
| … | |||||
| 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 Sault Ste. Marie in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 1,310 violent incidents a year reached Sault Ste. Marie’s police, 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 4,100 a year and other violations 1,500 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Sault Ste. Marie, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 118.3; the lightest was 2024, at 103.2. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Sault Ste. Marie | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 107.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 118.3 | 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 Sault Ste. Marie, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Sault Ste. Marie
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sault Ste. Marie | 81,182 | 109.6 | 137 | C− |
| Prince (14 km) | 1,113 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional (23 km) | 1,771 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Laird (23 km) | 1,221 | 36.2 | 57.2 | A |
Sault Ste. Marie sits above 1 of the 3 neighbours with figures of their own. Closest is Laird, 23.3 km away, at 36.2 to 109.6 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 14–23 km from Sault Ste. Marie.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. 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.
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Sault Ste. Marie
Is Sault Ste. Marie safe?
Statistics Canada puts Sault Ste. Marie at 109.6 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more sit at 60.3 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 16.2 and property crimes at 50.6 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Sault Ste. Marie?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 28.7, other Criminal Code offences at 15.8 and assault at 9.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Sault Ste. Marie?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 9%, to 107.3 from 118.3.
How much of Sault Ste. Marie’s crime do police solve?
About 42% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 66% of violent and 29% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Sault Ste. Marie 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).