Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wiarton sees less crime per resident than 75% of Canadian towns
Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 44.2 in 2023 to 41.8 by 2025. Behind the grade sit 11.1 violent incidents and 16.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Measured on crime the police covering Wiarton reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of A−: #234 of 862 in Ontario. Split in two, the index gives 52.4 for violence and 43.9 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8).
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 Wiarton
More people here than live here
About 42% of Wiarton’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Wiarton comes 14th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Close to Ontario’s typical town
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Wiarton, 46. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Wiarton’s police clear 45%, 72% of violent crime and 32% of the rest. 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 Wiarton, 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: #234 of 862 in Ontario and #432 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.
What police record in Wiarton, by type
Theft under $5,000 and motor vehicle theft 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 | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0.7 | 0.07 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 26 | 2.7 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 6 | 0.6 | 28% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 47.3 | 4.9 | 18% |
| Mischief | 30.7 | 3.2 | 19% |
| Weapons violations | 3.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 43.7 | 4.5 | 77% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Drug violations | 8 | 0.8 | 59% |
| Impaired driving | 16.3 | 1.7 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1 | 0.1 | — |
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.
Around 110 violent incidents a year on Wiarton’s police records (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 160 property crimes and 99 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
By its index, Wiarton stands 14th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beckwith Ontario | 10,073 | 20.5 | 25.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Palmerston Ontario | 10,029 | 29 | 28.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Thamesford Ontario | 9,755 | 30.7 | 22.5 | A+ |
| 8 | Malahide Ontario | 9,995 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| … | |||||
| 11 | Otterburn Park Quebec | 9,460 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 12 | Blind Bay British Columbia | 9,984 | 40.8 | 37.4 | A− |
| 13 | Mitchell Ontario | 10,080 | 44.1 | 52.1 | A− |
| 14 | Wiarton Ontario | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| 15 | Lorraine Quebec | 9,721 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| 16 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley British Columbia | 9,803 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| 17 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands Ontario | 10,185 | 49.6 | 50.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Plympton-Wyoming Ontario | 9,548 | 333.9 | 378.3 | 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 Wiarton in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Wiarton, year by year
Crime Severity Index
At 52.1, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 41.8. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wiarton | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 52.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 44.2 | 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 Wiarton, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Wiarton
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiarton | 9,799 | 46 | 52.4 | A− |
| Georgian Bluffs (16 km) | 12,061 | 29.2 | 35.4 | A+ |
| Owen Sound (23 km) | 24,075 | 110 | 154.9 | C− |
| Port Elgin (27 km) | 18,167 | 50.1 | 68.5 | B+ |
Of 3 places nearby with their own figures, 1 come in under Wiarton. Closest is Georgian Bluffs, 16.2 km away, at 29.2 to 46 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 16–27 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Wiarton.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. 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.
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Wiarton
Is Wiarton safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 46 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Wiarton stands, with 11.1 violent and 16.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Wiarton?
Most often it is assault: 6.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 6.4 and theft under $5,000 at 4.9.
Is crime going up in Wiarton?
It went down 5% between 2023 and 2025, from 44.2 to 41.8.
How much of Wiarton’s crime do police solve?
About 45% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 72% of violent and 32% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or contract that serves Wiarton 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).