Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Fewer crimes per resident are recorded in Cornwall than in 74% of Canadian towns
Next door, 4 of 6 towns with figures record less crime per resident. Scored on crime the police covering Cornwall reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on B+ for safety: #6 of 10 in Prince Edward Island. Split in two, the index gives 58 for violence and 42.8 for everything else (normally 85.7 and 62.8). Out of every 1,000 residents, 11.0 violent incidents and 22.5 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 12.9 and 31.2 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.
What stands out about safety in Cornwall
A low clearance rate
For Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the typical clearance rate is 34%; Cornwall’s police clear 20%, 30% of violent crime and 15% of the rest. Questions ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Cornwall places 19th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Mischief: high for a town its size
Cornwall records 11.1 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Heavier than in 2023
From 42.9 in 2023 to 49.5 in 2025: that is Cornwall’s index, against 74.3 and 64.2 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The B+ for Cornwall, 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: #6 of 10 in Prince Edward Island and #455 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 Cornwall, by type
Against the typical town its size, Cornwall runs highest on mischief (11.1 per 1,000 against 4.9) and sexual assault (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.9). 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 | 3.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.3 | 0.04 | — |
| Other violent violations | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 10.7 | 1.4 | 21% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 7.3 | 0.9 | 14% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 34.7 | 4.5 | 14% |
| Mischief | 85.7 | 11.1 | 3% |
| Weapons violations | 0.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 20 | 2.6 | 49% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 13.3 | 1.7 | 10% |
| Drug violations | 5 | 0.7 | 20% |
| Impaired driving | 31.7 | 4.1 | 48% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.2 | — |
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.
From 2023 to 2025, Cornwall’s index climbed 16%
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 49.5; the lightest was 2023, at 42.9. 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 | Cornwall | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 48.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 42.9 | 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 Cornwall, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Police in Cornwall recorded about 86 violent incidents a year, 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 170 a year and other violations 110 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, Cornwall places 19th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alnwick/Haldimand Ontario | 8,197 | 21.6 | 26.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Minden Hills Ontario | 7,841 | 44.7 | 49.5 | A− |
| 17 | Baie-Saint-Paul Quebec | 7,760 | 45 | 79.1 | A− |
| 18 | Shefford Quebec | 7,704 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 19 | Cornwall Prince Edward Island | 7,920 | 46.9 | 58 | B+ |
| 20 | La Broquerie Manitoba | 7,808 | 48.1 | 54.1 | B+ |
| 21 | Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley British Columbia | 7,830 | 49.5 | 61.5 | B+ |
| 22 | Cardinal Ontario | 7,952 | 51.4 | 74.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay Newfoundland and Labrador | 8,197 | 360 | 345 | 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 Cornwall in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Cornwall
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | 7,920 | 46.9 | 58 | B+ |
| Charlottetown | 48,118 | 86.1 | 87.1 | C |
| Stratford | 13,152 | 50 | 78.6 | B+ |
| Kingston | 1,308 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Miltonvale Park | 1,279 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| West River | 4,155 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| Crossroads | 2,366 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
Of 6 places nearby with their own figures, 4 come in under Cornwall. Kingston, 8.8 km away, is the nearest lower one, at 46.6 to 46.9.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. 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.
- 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.”
- Reading the number. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Cornwall
Is Cornwall safe?
Cornwall’s Crime Severity Index is 46.9 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 11 violent incidents and 22.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Cornwall?
Mischief is the most common, at 11.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (8.1) and Criminal Code traffic offences (4.8).
Is crime going up in Cornwall?
Over 2023–2025 the index climbed 16%, to 49.5 from 42.9.
How much of Cornwall’s crime do police solve?
20%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 30% and non-violent crime at 15%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Cornwall’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).