Photo: JustSomePics · CC0Crime per resident in Wingham runs lower than in 66% of Canadian towns
Its two neighbours with figures both record less crime per resident. Still, in a usual year, 11.6 violent incidents and 21.8 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the typical town its size, 12.9 and 31.2. The Safety Grade comes out at B+, drawn from crime the police covering Wingham reported through 2023 to 2025: #295 of 862 in Ontario. A Crime Severity Index of 52.3, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 for the typical Canadian 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.
What stands out about safety in Wingham
Less severe than in 2023
Wingham’s index went from 55.1 in 2023 to 41.6 in 2025; the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
More crime solved
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 53% for Wingham (90% violent, 33% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Lower than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Wingham places 16th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
About the Ontario norm
Wingham’s index of 52.3 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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 Wingham’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: #295 of 862 in Ontario and #570 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.
Year by year in Wingham: down 25%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2024 stands out as the heaviest year at 60.2, with 2025 the lightest at 41.6. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Wingham | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41.6 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 60.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 55.1 | 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 Wingham, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Wingham, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Wingham runs highest on mischief (6.2 per 1,000 against 4.9). Motor vehicle theft and theft under $5,000 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 | 0.2 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 1 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 12.3 | 2.3 | 27% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7 | 1.3 | 39% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 34 | 6.3 | 29% |
| Mischief | 33.7 | 6.2 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 18.3 | 3.4 | 84% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.3 | 0.6 | — |
| Drug violations | 4.3 | 0.8 | — |
| Impaired driving | 5.3 | 1 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2.3 | 0.4 | — |
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 63 violent incidents a year on Wingham’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 120 property crimes and 44 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Wingham places 16th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 25.2 | 31.4 | 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 |
| … | |||||
| 13 | New Glasgow Prince Edward Island | 5,502 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| 14 | Gananoque Ontario | 5,568 | 47.6 | 61.3 | B+ |
| 15 | Cookshire-Eaton Quebec | 5,491 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| 16 | Wingham Ontario | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| 17 | Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 5,194 | 53.8 | 81.1 | B |
| 18 | Carstairs Alberta | 5,248 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| 19 | Saint-Jean-de-Matha Quebec | 5,415 | 57.5 | 87.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 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 Wingham in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Wingham
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wingham | 5,411 | 52.3 | 65.1 | B+ |
| Morris-Turnberry | 4,028 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
| Howick | 4,517 | 35 | 39.3 | A |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Wingham. Closest is Morris-Turnberry, 5.5 km away, at 35 to 52.3 here.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- 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. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Wingham
Is Wingham safe?
Police-reported crime in Wingham scores 52.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 11.6 violent incidents and 21.8 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 Wingham?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 6.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come mischief at 6.2 and assault at 5.6.
Is crime going up in Wingham?
Down 25%: 55.1 in 2023, 41.6 in 2025.
How much of Wingham’s crime do police solve?
53%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 90% and non-violent crime at 33%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Wingham’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).