Photo: Vertiflite · CC BY-SA 3.0Vaughan records lighter crime than the typical Canadian town its size, by 12%
For crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, the only official count covers all of the York Region service area, Vaughan included. By 2025 the index had dropped to 50.3, down from 54.6 in 2023. Violence accounts for an index of 67.4 and other offences for 47.4, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2. In a usual year, 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 10.8 and 25.1.
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 Vaughan
Motor vehicle theft: high for a town its size
Vaughan records 2.6 incidents of motor vehicle theft per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Near the Ontario middle
Vaughan’s index of 52.8 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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 Vaughan’s grade will weigh
No letter for now. The figures here are the real ones; the grade waits for Canada’s grading run.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Crime in Vaughan, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Vaughan runs highest on motor vehicle theft (2.6 per 1,000 against 1.7). Sexual assault and mischief sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 14.7 | 0.01 | 80% |
| Sexual violations against children | 128.7 | 0.1 | 58% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 153.7 | 0.1 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 97.7 | 0.08 | 38% |
| Robbery | 617.3 | 0.5 | 47% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 91.7 | 0.07 | 65% |
| Other violent violations | 290.7 | 0.2 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,306 | 1.8 | 18% |
| Possession of stolen property | 291 | 0.2 | 85% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3,372.3 | 2.6 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 732.7 | 0.6 | 15% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 10,573 | 8.3 | 25% |
| Mischief | 2,944 | 2.3 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 266.3 | 0.2 | 66% |
| Administration of justice violations | 4,033.3 | 3.1 | 96% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 552.7 | 0.4 | 58% |
| Drug violations | 636 | 0.5 | 91% |
| Impaired driving | 1,207.3 | 0.9 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3,411.7 | 2.7 | 8% |
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.
Vaughan, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 54.6, against a low of 50.3 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Vaughan | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.3 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 53.6 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 54.6 | 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 Vaughan, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
About 12,500 violent incidents a year across the police area of 1,298,900 residents that includes Vaughan, 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 27,300 property crimes, plus 11,000 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 Vaughan
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaughan | 358,535 | 52.8 | 67.4 | — |
| Maple | 20,122 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Vellore | 39,490 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Peace Village | 14,598 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Carrville Corners | 13,004 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Dufferin Hill | 7,910 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| Purpleville | 19,918 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
The comparison skips 6 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Shared policing. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Vaughan included.
Questions about safety in Vaughan
Is Vaughan safe?
Vaughan’s Crime Severity Index is 52.8 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 9.7 violent incidents and 21.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Vaughan?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 8.3, fraud at 5.3 and assault at 4.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Vaughan?
No: the index fell 8%, from 54.6 in 2023 to 50.3 in 2025.
How much of Vaughan’s crime do police solve?
35%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 38%. Violent crime is cleared at 53% and non-violent crime at 25%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Vaughan together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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). 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).