Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Winchester records less crime per resident than 90% of Canadian towns
Its violent half comes to 47.2 and its non-violent half to 33.1, where the norm is 89.4 and 56. In 2023 the index stood at 39.2; it fell to 34.4 in 2025. What’s more, on crime the police covering Winchester reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades A for safety: #162 of 862 in Ontario. The local count comes to 8.0 violent incidents and 14.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size.
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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Stormont/Dundas/Glengarry detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Winchester
Lower than most of Ontario
Winchester’s index of 36.9 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Winchester places 8th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Above-typical clearance
Weighted by seriousness, 43% of crime in Winchester ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 74% of violent crime and 26% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 33%. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Winchester’s A
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: #162 of 862 in Ontario and #213 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.
Which crimes make up Winchester’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 | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 15.3 | 0.2 | 87% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 7.3 | 0.1 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.7 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 2 | 0.03 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 7 | 0.10 | 100% |
| Other violent violations | 11.7 | 0.2 | 71% |
| Breaking and entering | 85.3 | 1.2 | 25% |
| Possession of stolen property | 14.7 | 0.2 | 90% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 109.7 | 1.5 | 11% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 48 | 0.7 | 8% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 255.7 | 3.5 | 17% |
| Mischief | 171.3 | 2.4 | 24% |
| Weapons violations | 18 | 0.3 | 54% |
| Administration of justice violations | 196.7 | 2.7 | 79% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 24.7 | 0.3 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 26.3 | 0.4 | 67% |
| Impaired driving | 68.3 | 0.9 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.3 | 0.06 | — |
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.
Winchester comes 8th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Norwich Ontario | 12,321 | 31.5 | 27.6 | A |
| 5 | Forest Ontario | 12,962 | 32.2 | 38.8 | A |
| 6 | Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine Quebec | 12,427 | 32.2 | 50.9 | A |
| 7 | Kincardine Ontario | 13,169 | 34.4 | 43.4 | A |
| 8 | Winchester Ontario | 12,706 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| 9 | Carignan Quebec | 12,618 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 10 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 37.5 | 32.9 | A |
| 11 | Saint-Hippolyte Quebec | 12,550 | 38 | 60.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Grey Highlands Ontario | 12,148 | 39.7 | 47.7 | A |
| 15 | Meaford Ontario | 12,652 | 42.7 | 45.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 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 Winchester in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Winchester, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (39.2); the low point came in 2025, at 34.4. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Winchester | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.4 | 60 |
| 2024 | 37.2 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 39.2 | 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 Winchester, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
72,300 residents, about 580 violent incidents a year: the police area Winchester 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.
Property crime adds about 1,040 a year and other violations 420 (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 Winchester
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | 12,706 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| Morrisburg (20 km) | 11,943 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| Embrun (21 km) | 23,655 | 26.9 | 39.7 | A+ |
| North Stormont (23 km) | 7,946 | 36.9 | 47.2 | A |
| Kemptville (26 km) | 19,733 | 37.9 | 52.9 | A |
Winchester sits above 1 of the 2 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 20.7 km away, Embrun comes to 26.9, against 36.9. 2 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 20–26 km from Winchester.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Winchester’s are shared with its surroundings.
- What 100 means. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Winchester
Is Winchester safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Winchester scores 36.9 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 8 violent and 14.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people is 66.
What is the most common crime in Winchester?
The three biggest groups are fraud at 4.9, other Criminal Code offences at 3.8 and assault at 3.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Winchester?
The reverse: 39.2 in 2023 came down to 34.4 by 2025, 12% lower.
How much of Winchester’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 74% of violent crime and 26% of everything else, 43% 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 detachment that covers Winchester and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).