Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0St. Joseph sees more crime per resident than 96% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 509 and its non-violent half to 222.3, where the norm is 86.4 and 62.8. It grades D− for safety on crime the police covering St. Joseph reported from 2023 to 2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 52.6 violent incidents and 75.6 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Sault Ste. Marie detachment area).
What stands out about safety in St. Joseph
Crime per resident, visitors uncounted
Only year-round residents divide the crime in St. Joseph, yet 33% of its homes are seasonal or empty: the rates run higher than the place feels to the people who live there. How to read it ↓
Drug offences: high for a town its size
St. Joseph records 8.7 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
St. Joseph’s index of 302.3 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 67% for St. Joseph (84% violent, 49% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind St. Joseph’s D−
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for St. Joseph itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 36 km away.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in St. Joseph, type by type
Against the typical town its size, St. Joseph runs highest on drug offences (8.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (5.8 per 1,000 against 0.8) and break and enter (13.8 per 1,000 against 2.5).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 5.7 | 3.3 | 82% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 23.7 | 13.8 | 39% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.3 | 3.1 | 100% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 3.5 | 62% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 1.5 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 30.3 | 17.6 | 21% |
| Mischief | 32 | 18.5 | 29% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 2.7 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 38.3 | 22.2 | 81% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 2.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 15 | 8.7 | 82% |
| Impaired driving | 15 | 8.7 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.8 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment closest to St. Joseph, 1,740 residents, recorded about 91 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 130 a year and other violations 97 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
St. Joseph’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (324.8); the low point came in 2025, at 278. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | St. Joseph | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 278 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 304.2 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 324.8 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering St. Joseph, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around St. Joseph
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph | 1,560 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Laird (14 km) | 1,221 | 36.2 | 57.2 | A |
| Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional (23 km) | 1,771 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Sault Ste. Marie (35 km) | 81,182 | 109.6 | 137 | C− |
| Thessalon (39 km) | 1,363 | 55.2 | 97 | B |
| Prince (46 km) | 1,113 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than St. Joseph. Closest is Laird, 13.8 km away, at 36.2 to 302.3 here. Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 2 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 14–46 km from St. Joseph.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Few people behind the figures. About 1,742 people live in the area these figures cover; at that size one bad year shows up large. Statistics Canada says: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in St. Joseph
Is St. Joseph safe?
Police-reported crime in St. Joseph scores 302.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 52.6 violent incidents and 75.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, the typical index is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in St. Joseph?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 29.9, assault at 26.8 and mischief at 18.5, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in St. Joseph?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 14%, to 278 from 324.8. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of St. Joseph’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 84% of violent crime and 49% of everything else, 67% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers St. Joseph and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).