Photo: Balcer · Public domainWoodstock is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Out of every 1,000 residents, 11.7 violent incidents and 34.2 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. In sum, crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025 put Woodstock at C+ (#641 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns. On top of that, each of the 5 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident. A Crime Severity Index of 69.7, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 60.3 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 Woodstock
Down since 2023
From 77.4 in 2023 to 62.2 in 2025: that is Woodstock’s index, against 64.3 and 59.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Woodstock scores 61.8 for violence and 73.5 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 75.2 and 54.2. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Woodstock places 26th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
Woodstock’s index of 69.7 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.
The C+ for Woodstock, 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: #641 of 862 in Ontario and #1,358 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Year by year in Woodstock: down 20%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 77.4, and its lowest 2025, at 62.2. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Woodstock | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 69.6 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 77.4 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Woodstock, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Woodstock, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Woodstock runs highest on break and enter (3.5 per 1,000 against 2.2), theft under $5,000 (16.5 per 1,000 against 11.5) and sexual assault (1 per 1,000 against 0.8).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 9.3 | 0.2 | 78% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 17.3 | 0.3 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Robbery | 13 | 0.2 | 48% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4 | 0.08 | — |
| Other violent violations | 10.7 | 0.2 | 47% |
| Breaking and entering | 187.7 | 3.5 | 14% |
| Possession of stolen property | 23.7 | 0.4 | 89% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 113.3 | 2.1 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 49 | 0.9 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 884.7 | 16.5 | 15% |
| Mischief | 234.7 | 4.4 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 45 | 0.8 | 74% |
| Administration of justice violations | 257.7 | 4.8 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 36.3 | 0.7 | 63% |
| Drug violations | 54.3 | 1 | 81% |
| Impaired driving | 49.3 | 0.9 | 95% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 3.3 | 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 50,000 people or more.
By its index, Woodstock stands 26th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeshore Ontario | 45,954 | 26.8 | 29 | A+ |
| 2 | Bradford Ontario | 51,346 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 3 | Innisfil Ontario | 50,686 | 32.5 | 41.8 | A |
| 4 | Alliston Ontario | 50,739 | 33.2 | 50.9 | A |
| … | |||||
| 23 | St. Thomas Ontario | 49,388 | 65.2 | 72.6 | B− |
| 24 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 65.9 | 65.9 | B− |
| 25 | Rouyn-Noranda Quebec | 43,270 | 66.7 | 112.8 | B− |
| 26 | Woodstock Ontario | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| 27 | Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Quebec | 47,002 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| 28 | Shawinigan Quebec | 51,739 | 76 | 113.4 | C+ |
| 29 | Belleville Ontario | 62,914 | 76.8 | 94.1 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Vernon British Columbia | 49,527 | 145.1 | 141.2 | 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 Woodstock in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 630 violent incidents a year reached Woodstock’s police, 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 1,830 a year and other violations 680 (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 Woodstock
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock | 55,572 | 69.7 | 61.8 | C+ |
| Tavistock | 8,710 | 23.1 | 27.2 | A+ |
| Ingersoll | 14,911 | 47.7 | 60.5 | B+ |
| South-West Oxford | 8,375 | 34.5 | 42.9 | A |
| Thamesford | 9,755 | 30.7 | 22.5 | A+ |
| Plattsville | 8,251 | 25.1 | 27.5 | A+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in under Woodstock. Tavistock, 12.2 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 23.1 to 69.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Solved cases. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
Questions about safety in Woodstock
Is Woodstock safe?
Woodstock scores 69.7 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3; per 1,000 residents a year that is 11.7 violent incidents and 34.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Woodstock?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 16.5 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (9.9) and fraud (6.2).
Is crime going up in Woodstock?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 20%, to 62.2 from 77.4.
How much of Woodstock’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 37% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (38% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 63% of violent and 28% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
They are Woodstock’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).