Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 3.0Tavistock has less crime per resident than almost every Canadian town
Police counts work out at 3.6 violent incidents and 10.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Add to that, its two neighbours with figures both record more crime per resident. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Tavistock reported put it at A+ for safety: #27 of 862 in Ontario. Of the two halves, violence comes to 27.2 and other offences to 21.7, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Tavistock
Lower than most of Ontario
Tavistock’s index of 23.1 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, Tavistock places 2nd from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Up since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Tavistock moved from 19.4 to 23, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
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 Tavistock’s A+
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: #27 of 862 in Ontario and #29 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 Tavistock, by type
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 | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0 | 0 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 10.3 | 1.2 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 14 | 1.6 | 2% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 21 | 2.4 | 18% |
| Mischief | 13.7 | 1.6 | 22% |
| Weapons violations | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 6.7 | 0.8 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Drug violations | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Impaired driving | 4.3 | 0.5 | — |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Tavistock places 2nd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Douro-Dummer Ontario | 8,379 | 14.9 | 13.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Tavistock Ontario | 8,710 | 23.1 | 27.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Stone Mills Ontario | 8,523 | 28.2 | 33.5 | A+ |
| 4 | Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval Quebec | 9,084 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 5 | Lac-Beauport Quebec | 8,524 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 6 | Drummond/North Elmsley Ontario | 8,817 | 28.8 | 34.8 | A+ |
| 7 | Puslinch Ontario | 8,577 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | South-West Oxford Ontario | 8,375 | 34.5 | 42.9 | A |
| 10 | Huron-Kinloss Ontario | 8,445 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Iqaluit Nunavut | 8,612 | 661.3 | 844 | 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 Tavistock in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
In Tavistock, up 18% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 27 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 19.4 in 2023. 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 | Tavistock | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 27 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 19.4 | 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 Tavistock, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Tavistock’s police: about 31 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 89 property crimes, plus 19 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 Tavistock
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tavistock | 8,710 | 23.1 | 27.2 | A+ |
| Woodstock | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| Thamesford | 9,755 | 30.7 | 22.5 | A+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Tavistock.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. 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.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- What 100 means. 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 Tavistock
Is Tavistock safe?
Its police recorded 3.6 violent incidents and 10.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Tavistock a Crime Severity Index of 23.1. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Tavistock?
The three biggest groups are fraud at 3, theft under $5,000 at 2.4 and assault at 1.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Tavistock?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 18%, to 23 from 19.4.
How much of Tavistock’s crime do police solve?
36%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 82% and non-violent crime at 14%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Tavistock 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).