Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Walkerton records less crime per resident than 74% of Canadian towns
Police counts work out at 9.5 violent incidents and 17.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.0 and 30.5. On top of that, it grades B+ for safety on crime the police covering Walkerton reported from 2023 to 2025: #249 of 862 in Ontario. Violence accounts for an index of 56.9 and other offences for 44, against usual levels of 89.4 and 56.
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 Walkerton
Lower than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Walkerton places 10th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Lighter than in 2023
In 2023 the index in Walkerton stood at 49.9, by 2025 at 41.7. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Above-typical clearance
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 44% for Walkerton (72% violent, 30% non-violent), beside 33% for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Walkerton records 1.5 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 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.
What’s behind Walkerton’s grade
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: #249 of 862 in Ontario and #455 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.
Crime in Walkerton, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Walkerton runs highest on sexual assault (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.8). 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 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 6 | 0.6 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 21.3 | 2 | 17% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12.7 | 1.2 | 24% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 7.3 | 0.7 | 0% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 53 | 5 | 9% |
| Mischief | 34.3 | 3.2 | 20% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 61.7 | 5.8 | 78% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 0.9 | 78% |
| Impaired driving | 17 | 1.6 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.7 | 0.3 | — |
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.
From 2023 to 2025, Walkerton’s index dropped 16%
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 50.7, with 2025 the lightest at 41.7. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Walkerton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41.7 | 60 |
| 2024 | 50.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 49.9 | 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 Walkerton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Walkerton comes 10th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury Quebec | 10,147 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 2 | Shelburne Ontario | 10,767 | 35.2 | 52.8 | A |
| 3 | Thornbury Ontario | 11,162 | 36.5 | 46.3 | A |
| 4 | Alexandria Ontario | 10,772 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Pont-Rouge Quebec | 11,339 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| 8 | Coldstream British Columbia | 11,380 | 45.1 | 61.9 | A− |
| 9 | Wendover Ontario | 10,896 | 46.8 | 72.6 | A− |
| 10 | Walkerton Ontario | 10,811 | 47.4 | 56.9 | B+ |
| 11 | Bois-des-Filion Quebec | 10,666 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| 12 | Montmagny Quebec | 11,326 | 48.4 | 77.8 | B+ |
| 13 | Seaforth Ontario | 10,402 | 49.1 | 67.1 | B+ |
| 14 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands Ontario | 10,185 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Wheatland County Alberta | 10,150 | 298.8 | 486.4 | 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 Walkerton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Police in Walkerton recorded about 100 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 180 a year and other violations 120 (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 Walkerton
1 of the 2 neighbours with their own figures score lower than Walkerton. The nearest of them, Mildmay (9.1 km away), scores 33.7 against 47.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Walkerton
Is Walkerton safe?
Walkerton scores 47.4 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66; per 1,000 residents a year that is 9.5 violent incidents and 17 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Walkerton?
Most often it is other Criminal Code offences: 6.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come theft under $5,000 at 5 and fraud at 4.6.
Is crime going up in Walkerton?
Down 16%: 49.9 in 2023, 41.7 in 2025.
How much of Walkerton’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 72% of violent crime and 30% of everything else, 44% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Walkerton 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).