Photo: norgo · CC BY-SA 3.0Severn records less crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Annual rates stand at 7.8 violent incidents and 16.0 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. The grade is A−, built on crime the police covering Severn reported from 2023 to 2025: #195 of 862 in Ontario. Violence accounts for an index of 48.8 and other offences for 39.3, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56. By 2025 the index had climbed to 43.5, up from 39.6 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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Orillia (Severn) detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Severn
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Severn comes 12th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Ontario
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Severn, 41.7. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 46% for Severn (75% violent, 32% non-violent), beside 33% for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: A− for Severn
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: #195 of 862 in Ontario and #319 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Severn, type by type
Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5 | 0.3 | 94% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 17.7 | 1.1 | 7% |
| Possession of stolen property | 4 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17 | 1.1 | 22% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 9.7 | 0.6 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 79 | 5 | 21% |
| Mischief | 37 | 2.4 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.6 | 65% |
| Administration of justice violations | 35.3 | 2.2 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10 | 0.6 | 67% |
| Drug violations | 6.3 | 0.4 | 100% |
| Impaired driving | 75 | 4.8 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4 | 0.3 | — |
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Around 120 violent incidents a year in the 15,700-resident police area around Severn, 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 180 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Severn, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its most recent year, 2025, was also its heaviest (43.5); the lightest was 2023 (39.6). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 69.5 to 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Severn | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.5 | 60 |
| 2024 | 42.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 39.6 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Severn, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Severn stands 12th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorchester Ontario | 15,475 | 28.2 | 19.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Almonte Ontario | 16,073 | 28.8 | 36.6 | A+ |
| 3 | Rockwood Ontario | 14,870 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 4 | Stayner Ontario | 16,571 | 31.5 | 35.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Campbellford Ontario | 15,103 | 37 | 48.3 | A |
| 10 | Pincourt Quebec | 15,220 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 11 | Comox British Columbia | 15,884 | 40.6 | 39.2 | A− |
| 12 | Severn Ontario | 15,716 | 41.7 | 48.8 | A− |
| 13 | Winkler Manitoba | 16,156 | 45.7 | 56.3 | A− |
| 14 | Bécancour Quebec | 14,943 | 46.5 | 64.3 | A− |
| 15 | Ingersoll Ontario | 14,911 | 47.7 | 60.5 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | North Battleford Saskatchewan | 14,882 | 528.4 | 591.9 | 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 Severn in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Severn
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severn | 15,716 | 41.7 | 48.8 | A− |
| Orillia | 37,735 | 98.5 | 146.3 | C− |
| Chippewas of Rama First Nation | 1,149 | 193.2 | 255.2 | D |
| Oro-Medonte | 24,681 | 27 | 31.5 | A+ |
| Ramara | 11,551 | 37.3 | 55.6 | A |
2 of the 4 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Severn. The nearest of them, Oro-Medonte (16.7 km away), scores 27 against 41.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A detachment’s area. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Severn together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Severn
Is Severn safe?
Severn measures 41.7 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 7.8 violent incidents and 16 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Severn?
Top of the list is Criminal Code traffic offences (6.7 per 1,000 residents a year); fraud, at 5.4, and theft under $5,000, at 5, follow.
Is crime going up in Severn?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 10%, to 43.5 from 39.6.
How much of Severn’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 46% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (33% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 75% of violent and 32% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Severn and everywhere else it polices.
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).