Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Wawa runs higher than in 78% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 182.2 and its non-violent half to 65, where the norm is 85.7 and 62.8. In a usual year, 25.8 violent incidents and 22.7 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2. Add to that, it grades C− for safety on crime the police covering Wawa reported from 2023 to 2025: #806 of 862 in Ontario.
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 Wawa
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 67% of Wawa’s crime, weighted by seriousness (86% of violent crime, 48% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Higher than most of Ontario
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Wawa scores 97.9. Towns its size ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Wawa’s two halves part ways: 182.2 for violence (typical 85.7) and 65 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
A higher index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Wawa is 33rd 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’s behind Wawa’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: #806 of 862 in Ontario and #1,926 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.
Wawa’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Wawa runs highest on assault (9.4 per 1,000 against 6.7) and fraud (5.7 per 1,000 against 4.9). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 4.3 | 1.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 2.7 | 0.9 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 7.7 | 2.6 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.6 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 2 | 0.7 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.9 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 20 | 6.8 | 32% |
| Mischief | 15.7 | 5.4 | 30% |
| Weapons violations | 0.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 87 | 29.7 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3 | 1 | — |
| Drug violations | 4.7 | 1.6 | — |
| Impaired driving | 4.7 | 1.6 | — |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Wawa places 33rd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorne Manitoba | 3,022 | 26.8 | 36.9 | A+ |
| 2 | East Garafraxa Ontario | 2,976 | 28.7 | 22 | A+ |
| 3 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Algonquin Highlands Ontario | 2,915 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Markstay-Warren Ontario | 2,990 | 49.3 | 58.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 30 | Minnedosa Manitoba | 2,859 | 89.9 | 92.1 | C |
| 31 | Fairview Alberta | 2,918 | 96 | 62 | C− |
| 32 | Black River-Matheson Ontario | 2,899 | 97.4 | 171.6 | C− |
| 33 | Wawa Ontario | 2,943 | 97.9 | 182.2 | C− |
| 34 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 106.9 | 196.4 | C− |
| 35 | Harbour Grace Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,872 | 108 | 83.3 | C− |
| 36 | Huntingdon Quebec | 3,001 | 120.3 | 141 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Lesser Slave River No. 124 Alberta | 2,980 | 170.9 | 107.9 | 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 Wawa in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 76 violent incidents a year reached Wawa’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.
Add about 66 property crimes and 110 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
The index in Wawa, each year
Crime Severity Index
It rose to 106.4 in 2024 before easing, with the low of 91.1 in 2025. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Wawa | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 91.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 106.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 96.1 | 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 Wawa, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Wawa
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wawa | 2,943 | 97.9 | 182.2 | C− |
| Algoma, Unorganized, North Part (140 km) | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | D− |
| Marathon (142 km) | 3,223 | 74.7 | 120.7 | C+ |
| Manitouwadge (148 km) | 2,052 | 92.4 | 166.1 | C |
Nearby, 2 of 3 places with their own figures have a lower index than Wawa. Marathon, 142.2 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 74.7 to 97.9.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 140–148 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Wawa.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- How serious, not how safe. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Small numbers. The police behind these figures serve about 2,943 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
Questions about safety in Wawa
Is Wawa safe?
Wawa’s Crime Severity Index is 97.9 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 25.8 violent incidents and 22.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Wawa?
The three biggest groups are other Criminal Code offences at 32.1, assault at 9.4 and theft under $5,000 at 6.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Wawa?
Down 5%: 96.1 in 2023, 91.1 in 2025. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Wawa’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 67% of crime (86% of violent crime, 48% of the rest). The typical Canadian town its size clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Wawa 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).