Photo: Derek Hatfield from Peterborough, Canada · CC BY 2.0Thunder Bay sees more crime per resident than 84% of Canadian towns
The yearly rates were 24.1 violent incidents and 41.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. The grade is C−, built on crime the police covering Thunder Bay reported from 2023 to 2025: #829 of 862 in Ontario. Its violent half comes to 209.7 and its non-violent half to 76.2, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure rose, 104.9 to 119.2.
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 Thunder Bay
Robbery: high for a town its size
Thunder Bay records 2.1 incidents of robbery per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.4 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Above Ontario’s typical town
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Thunder Bay scores 113.6. Towns its size ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Thunder Bay’s index splits into violent crime, 209.7 here and 75.2 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 76.2 against 54.2. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Thunder Bay is 32nd of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. 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.
What sits behind Thunder Bay’s C−
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: #829 of 862 in Ontario and #2,217 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
What police record in Thunder Bay, by type
Against the typical town its size, Thunder Bay runs highest on robbery (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.4), assault (12.9 per 1,000 against 4.9) and theft under $5,000 (25.2 per 1,000 against 11.5). Motor vehicle theft sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 7.3 | 0.06 | 86% |
| Sexual violations against children | 35.3 | 0.3 | 95% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 74 | 0.6 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 8.7 | 0.07 | 100% |
| Robbery | 260 | 2.1 | 38% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 25.7 | 0.2 | 77% |
| Other violent violations | 76.7 | 0.6 | 78% |
| Breaking and entering | 401.7 | 3.3 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 28.7 | 0.2 | 93% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 172 | 1.4 | 33% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 52.7 | 0.4 | 13% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 3,110 | 25.2 | 8% |
| Mischief | 733.7 | 6 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 45 | 0.4 | 82% |
| Administration of justice violations | 914.7 | 7.4 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 98.7 | 0.8 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 128.3 | 1 | 97% |
| Impaired driving | 199.7 | 1.6 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 5 | 0.04 | 60% |
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 50,000 people or more.
Thunder Bay is 32nd of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Lindsay Ontario | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 10 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 87 | 97.6 | C |
| 30 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 87.9 | 94.6 | C |
| 31 | Moncton New Brunswick | 102,378 | 113.1 | 113.3 | C− |
| 32 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 113.6 | 209.7 | C− |
| 33 | Nanaimo British Columbia | 111,845 | 121.6 | 127.7 | D |
| 34 | Fort McMurray Alberta | 81,611 | 124.5 | 117.5 | D |
| 35 | Red Deer Alberta | 115,409 | 126.8 | 134.3 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Thunder Bay in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Thunder Bay, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The latest year was its heaviest: 2025, at 119.2, with 2023 the lightest at 104.9. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Thunder Bay | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 119.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 116.8 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 104.9 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Thunder Bay, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 2,970 violent incidents a year reached Thunder Bay’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.
Property crime adds about 5,170 a year and other violations 1,760 (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
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder Bay | 117,671 | 113.6 | 209.7 | C− |
| Oliver Paipoonge (16 km) | 6,524 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
| Shuniah (21 km) | 3,458 | 29.8 | 60 | A+ |
| Thunder Bay, Unorganized (25 km) | 6,831 | 62.7 | 107.8 | B− |
The places around Thunder Bay all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Oliver Paipoonge (16.2 km away), scores 62.7 against 113.6.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 16–25 km from Thunder Bay.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. 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
Is Thunder Bay safe?
Thunder Bay’s Crime Severity Index is 113.6 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 24.1 violent incidents and 41.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the median is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Thunder Bay?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 25.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 12.9 and other Criminal Code offences at 10.6.
Is crime going up in Thunder Bay?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 14%, to 119.2 from 104.9.
How much of Thunder Bay’s crime do police solve?
About 48% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 59% of violent and 36% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Its own police: the service or contract that covers Thunder Bay and nowhere else.
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).