Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime in Stratford sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
Overall, Stratford grades B− for safety (#512 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Within Ontario, half the towns score under 56.2. Violence and property crime split as 10.9 violent incidents and 27.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 62.2 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 66 for the typical Canadian town its size.
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 Stratford
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Stratford records 2.3 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 54% of Stratford’s crime, weighted by seriousness (77% of violent crime, 44% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Lighter than in 2023
From 64.5 in 2023 to 54.2 in 2025: that is Stratford’s index, against 69.5 and 60 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Stratford comes 21st, counting from the lowest Crime Severity 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.
The grade: B− for Stratford
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: #512 of 862 in Ontario and #942 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.
Stratford’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Stratford runs highest on drug offences (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.8), mischief (6 per 1,000 against 3.7) and break and enter (2.8 per 1,000 against 2.2). Assault and motor vehicle theft 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 | 7 | 0.1 | 86% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 13 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 7.3 | 0.2 | 78% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.1 | 88% |
| Breaking and entering | 132.7 | 2.8 | 31% |
| Possession of stolen property | 15.7 | 0.3 | 96% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 39 | 0.8 | 24% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 8.3 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 540.7 | 11.3 | 24% |
| Mischief | 289.7 | 6 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 39.7 | 0.8 | 86% |
| Administration of justice violations | 357.3 | 7.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 33.7 | 0.7 | 71% |
| Drug violations | 108.7 | 2.3 | 99% |
| Impaired driving | 67 | 1.4 | 91% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.7 | 0.08 | — |
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.
Stratford’s index fell 16% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 67.9 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 54.2 in 2025. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Stratford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 54.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 67.9 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 64.5 | 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 Stratford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Stratford comes 21st of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 22.9 | 17.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Fergus Ontario | 34,565 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Rockland Ontario | 30,375 | 38.2 | 56.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Orangeville Ontario | 33,070 | 43.5 | 50.6 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Grimsby Ontario | 31,478 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 19 | Leamington Ontario | 34,653 | 57.2 | 81.7 | B |
| 20 | Sorel-Tracy Quebec | 36,537 | 58.7 | 84.9 | B |
| 21 | Stratford Ontario | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| 22 | Elmira Ontario | 31,382 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 23 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 78.4 | 82.7 | C+ |
| 24 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78.4 | 79.1 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince Albert Saskatchewan | 40,728 | 295.8 | 470.9 | 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 Stratford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Stratford’s police: about 520 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.
And about 1,330 property crimes, plus 740 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Stratford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | 36,097 | 62.2 | 65.5 | B− |
| Perth South | 4,055 | 52.5 | 75.2 | B+ |
| Perth East | 13,423 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| St. Marys | 8,203 | 52.5 | 75.2 | B+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Stratford. Perth South, 14.2 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 52.5 to 62.2.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- Solved cases. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Stratford
Is Stratford safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Stratford comes to 62.2. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 10.9 violent incidents and 27.8 property crimes. In the middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 66.
What is the most common crime in Stratford?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 11.3, other Criminal Code offences at 10.9 and fraud at 6.3, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Stratford?
Down 16%: 64.5 in 2023, 54.2 in 2025.
How much of Stratford’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 54% of crime (77% of violent crime, 44% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 33%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Stratford 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).