Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Thunder Bay, Unorganized sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
The yearly rates were 13.5 violent incidents and 12.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. On top of that, across Ontario’s towns, the middle index is 56.2. Its Safety Grade, B− (#512 of 862 in Ontario), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. A Crime Severity Index of 62.7, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Thunder Bay detachment area, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Thunder Bay, Unorganized
Visitors count, residents divide
Seasonal homes make up about 51% of Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s housing, so summer crime is set against winter’s population and the rates read high. How to read it ↓
Up since 2023
Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s index went from 54.6 in 2023 to 82.1 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 66% of crime in Thunder Bay, Unorganized ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 86% of violent crime and 49% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Thunder Bay, Unorganized records 2.1 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s B− for safety
How sure: Less sure than most. No detachment reports for Thunder Bay, Unorganized itself, so the grade rests on the nearest one’s figures, 32 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.
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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s index rose 50% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index peaked most recently, in 2025 (82.1); 2024 was the low point, at 51.3. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Thunder Bay, Unorganized | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 51.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 54.6 | 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 Thunder Bay, Unorganized, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Thunder Bay, Unorganized runs highest on sexual assault (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.9), drug offences (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.7) and assault (8.1 per 1,000 against 6.7). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.3 | 0.05 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12 | 1.9 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7 | 1.1 | 29% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 16.3 | 2.6 | 35% |
| Mischief | 20.3 | 3.3 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 3.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 21.3 | 3.5 | 92% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.7 | 1.1 | 55% |
| Drug violations | 7.3 | 1.2 | 100% |
| Impaired driving | 41.3 | 6.7 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
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.
Thunder Bay, Unorganized comes 17th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beresford New Brunswick | 6,543 | 25 | 35.4 | A+ |
| 2 | Parkhill Ontario | 6,864 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| 3 | Lucan Ontario | 6,827 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Ontario | 7,052 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Tweed Ontario | 6,504 | 46.8 | 68 | B+ |
| 14 | Saint-Honoré Quebec | 6,984 | 48.7 | 80 | B+ |
| 15 | Plessisville Quebec | 6,774 | 55.6 | 81.9 | B |
| 16 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay British Columbia | 7,006 | 56.2 | 70.5 | B |
| 17 | Thunder Bay, Unorganized Ontario | 6,831 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
| 18 | Oliver Paipoonge Ontario | 6,524 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
| 19 | Douglas New Brunswick | 6,840 | 63.2 | 81.9 | B− |
| 20 | Kent British Columbia | 7,093 | 65.5 | 97.8 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | 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 Thunder Bay, Unorganized in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The detachment nearest Thunder Bay, Unorganized, 6,170 residents: around 83 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 75 a year and other violations 110 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Thunder Bay, Unorganized
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder Bay, Unorganized | 6,831 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
| Oliver Paipoonge (23 km) | 6,524 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
| Thunder Bay (25 km) | 117,671 | 113.6 | 209.7 | C− |
| Shuniah (30 km) | 3,458 | 29.8 | 60 | A+ |
Thunder Bay, Unorganized sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Closest is Shuniah, 29.8 km away, at 29.8 to 62.7 here. The table leaves out one neighbour whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 23–30 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Thunder Bay, Unorganized.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
Questions about safety in Thunder Bay, Unorganized
Is Thunder Bay, Unorganized safe?
Thunder Bay, Unorganized scores 62.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5; per 1,000 residents a year that is 13.5 violent incidents and 12.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Thunder Bay, Unorganized?
The three biggest groups are Criminal Code traffic offences at 10.3, assault at 8.1 and other Criminal Code offences at 5.7, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Thunder Bay, Unorganized?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 50%, to 82.1 from 54.6.
How much of Thunder Bay, Unorganized’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 86% of violent crime and 49% of everything else, 66% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Thunder Bay, Unorganized 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).