Photo: Unknown. Canada. Department of National Defence. · Public domainFewer crimes per resident are recorded in Southwold than in 94% of Canadian towns
Among its 3 neighbours with figures, only one records less crime per resident. Southwold grades A for safety on crime the police covering Southwold reported from 2023 to 2025: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Its violent half comes to 41.2 and its non-violent half to 27.9, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. For every 1,000 residents, 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.9 and 31.2.
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 behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Elgin County detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Southwold
Lower than most of Ontario
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Southwold, 31.5. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Southwold comes 5th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Southwold’s police clear 43%, 80% of violent crime and 20% of the rest. 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 Southwold
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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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.
What police record in Southwold, by type
Break and enter and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48.3 | 1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74.3 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 20.3 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 138.3 | 2.9 | 11% |
| Mischief | 99 | 2.1 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.2 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 74.3 | 1.5 | 73% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 0.4 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 59.3 | 1.2 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 7 | 0.1 | 0% |
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.
By its index, Southwold stands 5th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 25.2 | 31.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Havelock Ontario | 5,663 | 29.2 | 33.7 | A+ |
| 3 | Stirling Ontario | 5,489 | 30.8 | 33.2 | A+ |
| 4 | West Lorne Ontario | 5,566 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 5 | Southwold Ontario | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 6 | Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 5,390 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| 7 | Hudson Quebec | 5,533 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 8 | Orford Quebec | 5,698 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Gananoque Ontario | 5,568 | 47.6 | 61.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Wingham Ontario | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Central Frontenac Ontario | 5,348 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 Southwold in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
48,900 residents, about 330 violent incidents a year: the police area Southwold belongs to, 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.
And about 560 property crimes, plus 220 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
In Southwold, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 35.4 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 29.4 in 2025. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Southwold | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 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 Southwold, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Southwold
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwold | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Oneida 41 | 1,565 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| St. Thomas | 49,388 | 65.2 | 72.6 | B− |
| Central Elgin | 15,230 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Dutton | 4,686 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Lambeth | 2,609 | 69.8 | 86.4 | C+ |
Of 3 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under Southwold. Closest is Oneida 41, 12 km away, at 25.7 to 31.5 here. 2 neighbours are on the same police service or detachment: they share the figure and aren’t compared here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- Shared with the countryside. The detachment counts crime across its whole territory, of which Southwold is one part.
- 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. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Southwold
Is Southwold safe?
Its police recorded 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Southwold a Crime Severity Index of 31.5. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Southwold?
Assault is the most common, at 3.8 per 1,000 residents a year, then fraud (3.5) and theft under $5,000 (2.9).
Is crime going up in Southwold?
The index stayed close to where it was, 29.8 in 2023 and 29.4 in 2025.
How much of Southwold’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 80% of violent crime and 20% of everything else, 43% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Southwold 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).