Photo: Skytrain3514 at English Wikipedia · Public domainPer resident, Thornbury records less crime than 91% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 46.3 and its non-violent half to 32.8, where the norm is 89.4 and 56. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Thornbury reported put it at A for safety: #150 of 862 in Ontario. For every 1,000 residents, 6.2 violent incidents and 19.2 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures are 12.0 and 30.5. About 40% of crime here is cleared by police, set against 33% 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 Thornbury
More people here than live here
Thornbury draws far more visitors than it has residents, and the crime they are part of is divided by residents alone, so its rates run high for the people who live there. How to read it ↓
Down since 2023
In 2023 the index in Thornbury stood at 45.6, by 2025 at 29.2. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Under the Ontario norm
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Thornbury, 36.5. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Thornbury comes 5th, 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: A for Thornbury
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: #150 of 862 in Ontario and #192 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.
Year by year in Thornbury: down 36%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 45.6, against a low of 29.2 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 | Thornbury | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.2 | 60 |
| 2024 | 34.5 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 45.6 | 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 Thornbury, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Thornbury, type by type
Break and enter and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 11.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7.3 | 0.7 | 27% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11 | 1 | 21% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 84 | 7.7 | 15% |
| Mischief | 38.3 | 3.5 | 7% |
| Weapons violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 9.7 | 0.9 | 75% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 5 | 0.5 | 54% |
| Drug violations | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Impaired driving | 11 | 1 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
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.
Thornbury is 5th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Drayton Ontario | 11,518 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Millbrook Ontario | 11,507 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| 4 | Shelburne Ontario | 10,767 | 35.2 | 52.8 | A |
| 5 | Thornbury Ontario | 11,162 | 36.5 | 46.3 | A |
| 6 | Alexandria Ontario | 10,772 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| 7 | Contrecoeur Quebec | 10,708 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 8 | Ramara Ontario | 11,551 | 37.3 | 55.6 | A |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Dundalk Ontario | 11,599 | 40.6 | 49.1 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Wendover Ontario | 10,896 | 46.8 | 72.6 | A− |
| 15 | Walkerton Ontario | 10,811 | 47.4 | 56.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Thornbury in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 67 violent incidents a year reached Thornbury’s police, 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 210 property crimes, plus 41 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 Thornbury
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornbury | 11,162 | 36.5 | 46.3 | A |
| Collingwood (17 km) | 28,366 | 57.8 | 66.4 | B |
| Meaford (20 km) | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| Grey Highlands (27 km) | 12,148 | 39.7 | 47.7 | A |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a higher index than Thornbury.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Thornbury with figures are 17–27 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Thornbury
Is Thornbury safe?
Thornbury’s Crime Severity Index is 36.5 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 6.2 violent incidents and 19.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set that beside 66, the median for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
What is the most common crime in Thornbury?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 7.7, fraud at 4.9 and assault at 3.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Thornbury?
No: the index fell 36%, from 45.6 in 2023 to 29.2 in 2025.
How much of Thornbury’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 40% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (33% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 73% of violent and 21% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
They are Thornbury’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).