Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.0Stirling records less crime per resident than 95% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 33.2 and its non-violent half to 30.1, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. Recorded violent incidents ran at 5.9 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 12.2, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. On the record of crime the police covering Stirling reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes A+ for safety: #89 of 862 in Ontario. The index held steady between 2023 (28.8) and 2025 (29.9).
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 Stirling
Lower than most of Ontario
Stirling’s index of 30.8 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Stirling places 3rd from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 46% of crime in Stirling ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 78% of violent crime and 33% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. 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 Stirling
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: #89 of 862 in Ontario and #110 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.
Which crimes make up Stirling’s figures
Assault 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 | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 5.7 | 1 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 8 | 1.5 | 38% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 15 | 2.7 | 20% |
| Mischief | 11.7 | 2.1 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 9.3 | 1.7 | 72% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Drug violations | 2.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Impaired driving | 5 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Stirling is 3rd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Gananoque Ontario | 5,568 | 47.6 | 61.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Wingham Ontario | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Central Frontenac Ontario | 5,348 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 33 | Espanola Ontario | 5,504 | 90.6 | 123.8 | 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 Stirling in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Stirling’s police: about 32 violent incidents a year over 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.
Add about 67 property crimes and 25 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Stirling, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 33.7, 2024 topped the three years, and 2023 was lowest at 28.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Stirling | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.9 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 33.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 28.8 | 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 Stirling, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Stirling
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | 5,489 | 30.8 | 33.2 | A+ |
| Campbellford (19 km) | 15,103 | 37 | 48.3 | A |
| Quinte West (20 km) | 50,385 | 52.9 | 73.2 | B+ |
| Marmora (20 km) | 4,761 | 46.8 | 68 | B+ |
| Centre Hastings (21 km) | 5,170 | 46.8 | 68 | B+ |
| Belleville (22 km) | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
Stirling has the lowest index of the places around it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Stirling with figures are 19–22 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. 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.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- Reading the number. 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.
Questions about safety in Stirling
Is Stirling safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 30.8 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Stirling stands, with 5.9 violent and 12.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Stirling?
The three biggest groups are fraud at 4.1, theft under $5,000 at 2.7 and other Criminal Code offences at 2.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Stirling?
The index stayed close to where it was, 28.8 in 2023 and 29.9 in 2025.
How much of Stirling’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 46%: 78% for violent crime and 33% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Stirling 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).