Photo: Jfvoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Wellesley is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
By 2025 the index had dropped to 66.8, down from 75.8 in 2023. Annual rates stand at 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#680 of 862 in Ontario). Its violent half comes to 89.7 and its non-violent half to 65.4, where the norm is 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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area.
What stands out about safety in Wellesley
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Wellesley stands 30th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 71.9 in Wellesley. 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.
The C+ for Wellesley, and how it is built
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: #680 of 862 in Ontario and #1,466 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Wellesley places 30th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rothesay New Brunswick | 12,626 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Erin Ontario | 12,924 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| 3 | Georgian Bluffs Ontario | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Adjala-Tosorontio Ontario | 11,948 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Summerland British Columbia | 12,343 | 56.2 | 38.6 | B |
| 28 | St. Clements Manitoba | 12,029 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 29 | St. Andrews Manitoba | 12,021 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 30 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 31 | Kings County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 12,661 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 32 | Moncton New Brunswick | 12,238 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 33 | Amos Quebec | 12,773 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Thompson Manitoba | 12,917 | 589.9 | 1,034.6 | 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 Wellesley in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Wellesley, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (75.8); the low point came in 2025, at 66.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wellesley | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.8 | 60 |
| 2024 | 73.1 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 75.8 | 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 Wellesley, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Wellesley, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Wellesley runs highest on fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5.1), break and enter (3 per 1,000 against 2.2) and theft under $5,000 (14.2 per 1,000 against 11.8). Motor vehicle theft and drug offences sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 227.7 | 0.3 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 143.3 | 0.2 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 69 | 0.10 | 52% |
| Robbery | 362.3 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 120.3 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 165.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,068.3 | 3 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 715 | 1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,197 | 1.7 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 290.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,915.7 | 14.2 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,902.3 | 4.2 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 339 | 0.5 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,165.7 | 4.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 741.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 374.7 | 0.5 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 414.7 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 67.7 | 0.10 | 74% |
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.
Around 9,930 violent incidents a year in the 711,500-resident police area around Wellesley, 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 22,500 property crimes and 6,020 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Wellesley
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellesley | 12,413 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| New Hamburg | 22,890 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Perth East | 13,423 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| Waterloo | 142,450 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Elmira | 31,382 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Highland West | 12,476 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Westmount | 5,048 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
Its police also cover 5 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- What the index measures. 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.”
- Shared policing. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Wellesley included.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Wellesley
Is Wellesley safe?
Wellesley measures 71.9 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 66 for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Wellesley?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 14.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 7.7 and fraud at 7.6.
Is crime going up in Wellesley?
It went down 12% between 2023 and 2025, from 75.8 to 66.8.
How much of Wellesley’s crime do police solve?
About 32% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 45% of violent and 25% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 33%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Wellesley 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) · 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).