Photo: Richard Coté · CC BY-SA 4.0Stratford has less crime per resident than seven in ten Canadian towns
Measured on crime the police covering Stratford reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of B+. For every 1,000 residents, 12.9 violent incidents and 10.3 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, the figures are 12.0 and 31.2. Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 81.3 and 35.6. One of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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. The crime severity, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Granit MRC.
What stands out about safety in Stratford
More people here than live here
About 44% of Stratford’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 ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 52% of crime in Stratford ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 67% of violent crime and 39% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Heavier on violence
Violent crime scores 81.3 on Stratford’s index against 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+; non-violent crime, 35.6 against 62.8. By type ↓
Much like Quebec’s towns
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 48.4 in Stratford. 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 Stratford’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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
About 290 violent incidents a year across the police area of 22,700 residents that includes Stratford, 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 230 a year and other violations 160 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Which crimes make up Stratford’s figures
Assault sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 16.7 | 0.7 | 48% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 15 | 0.7 | 65% |
| Breaking and entering | 30 | 1.3 | 34% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5.7 | 0.3 | 40% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 19.3 | 0.9 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 5 | 0.2 | 14% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 39 | 1.7 | 44% |
| Mischief | 46 | 2 | 28% |
| Weapons violations | 7.3 | 0.3 | 86% |
| Administration of justice violations | 40 | 1.8 | 89% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.7 | 0.3 | 94% |
| Drug violations | 27.7 | 1.2 | 51% |
| Impaired driving | 33.7 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 22 | 1 | 9% |
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 people or more.
In Stratford, steady between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 52, 2024 topped the three years, and 2025 was lowest at 46.2. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Stratford | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 46.2 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 52 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 47 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Stratford, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Stratford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | 1,062 | 48.4 | 81.3 | B+ |
| Disraeli | 2,390 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| Disraeli | 1,169 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| Weedon | 2,845 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine | 1,920 | 55.9 | 93.4 | B |
| Lambton | 1,714 | 48.4 | 81.3 | B+ |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Stratford. One nearby place has no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
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.”
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Stratford among them.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- 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 Stratford
Is Stratford safe?
Its police recorded 12.9 violent incidents and 10.3 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Stratford a Crime Severity Index of 48.4. Set that beside 67.2, the median for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What is the most common crime in Stratford?
The three biggest groups are assault at 5.4, fraud at 3.8 and Criminal Code traffic offences at 2.8, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Stratford?
Barely: 47 in 2023, 46.2 in 2025.
How much of Stratford’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 52% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+); split up, that is 67% of violent and 39% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Stratford 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).