Photo: Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC0West Lorne sees less crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 41.2 for violence and 27.9 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering West Lorne reported put it at A for safety: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Police counts work out at 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2.
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. Shared with the rest of the Elgin County detachment area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in West Lorne
Below Ontario’s typical town
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 31.5 in West Lorne. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and West Lorne stands 3rd, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
A high clearance rate
Weighted by seriousness, 43% of crime in West Lorne ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 80% of violent crime and 20% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The A for West Lorne, 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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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.
Which crimes make up West Lorne’s figures
Break and enter and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.10 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3 | 0.06 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 48.3 | 1 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 7.7 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 74.3 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 20.3 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 138.3 | 2.9 | 11% |
| Mischief | 99 | 2.1 | 16% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.2 | 37% |
| Administration of justice violations | 74.3 | 1.5 | 73% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13 | 0.3 | 33% |
| Drug violations | 20 | 0.4 | 47% |
| Impaired driving | 59.3 | 1.2 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 7 | 0.1 | 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.
By its index, West Lorne stands 3rd of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havelock Ontario | 5,663 | 29.2 | 33.7 | A+ |
| 2 | Stirling Ontario | 5,489 | 30.8 | 33.2 | A+ |
| 3 | West Lorne Ontario | 5,566 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 4 | Southwold Ontario | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 5 | Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay British Columbia | 5,390 | 35.8 | 32 | A |
| 6 | Hudson Quebec | 5,533 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Gananoque Ontario | 5,568 | 47.6 | 61.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Wingham Ontario | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Espanola Ontario | 5,504 | 90.6 | 123.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 35 | Seguin Ontario | 5,761 | 106.9 | 196.4 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 West Lorne in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
48,900 residents, about 330 violent incidents a year: the police area West Lorne belongs to, 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 560 property crimes and 220 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
West Lorne’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 35.4; 2025 was lightest, at 29.4. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | West Lorne | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 35.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 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 West Lorne, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around West Lorne
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lorne | 5,566 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Dutton (14 km) | 4,686 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Glencoe (20 km) | 6,468 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| Southwold (31 km) | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| Oneida 41 (33 km) | 1,565 | 25.7 | 29 | A+ |
| Brooke-Alvinston (34 km) | 2,557 | 333.9 | 378.3 | D− |
West Lorne sits above 2 of the 3 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 20 km away, Glencoe comes to 25.7, against 31.5. Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 2 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. West Lorne has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 14–34 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What 100 means. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- The clearance rate. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- Severity, weighed. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider policing area. An RCMP or OPP detachment reports one set of figures for everywhere it polices, so West Lorne’s are shared with its surroundings.
Questions about safety in West Lorne
Is West Lorne safe?
Police-reported crime in West Lorne scores 31.5 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 6.9 violent incidents and 11.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in West Lorne?
The three biggest groups are assault at 3.8, fraud at 3.5 and theft under $5,000 at 2.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in West Lorne?
Barely: 29.8 in 2023, 29.4 in 2025.
How much of West Lorne’s crime do police solve?
43%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 80% and non-violent crime at 20%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving West Lorne 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).