Where Hamilton ranks in Canada’s most dangerous places
Published November 20, 2019 at 4:42 pm
Hamilton has ranked 75th out of 237 urban centres on Maclean’s list of the Most Dangerous Places in Canada 2020.
Hamilton has ranked 75th out of 237 urban centres on Maclean’s list of the Most Dangerous Places in Canada 2020.
The rankings, published Tuesday (Nov. 19), take an in-depth look at Canada’s crime data from 2018 and ranks the most dangerous places by crime severity index.
The Crime Severity Index (CSI) is a Statistics Canada measure of all police-reported crime, which takes into consideration both the volume and seriousness of offences.
Hamilton’s CSI is 68, where the Canadian average is 75.01. This is up by 2.51 since 2013 when the city’s CSI was 65.28.
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According to the data, Hamilton’s sexual assault numbers are well above the national average. In 2018, there were 566 sexual assault incidents reported to police which is a rate of 99.65 incidents per 100,000 people; the rest of the country’s rate is 75.89.
The most reported crime in Hamilton in 2018 were break and enters, where there were 2,223 incidents reported. The city’s rate per 100,000 population is 391.39, which is still below the national average of 431.24.
There were nine homicides in the city in 2018 which means Hamilton’s homicide rate sits at 1.58 per 100,000 people. That’s slightly lower than the national average rate of 1.76.
“The national index is considerably lower than it was when the CSI was created in 2006. But it has risen steadily over the past four years,” an explainer outlining the methodology of the rankings says.
“According to Statistics Canada, the most recent increase comes predominantly from a rise in reports of fraud, level 1 sexual assault (meaning without a weapon or evidence of bodily harm) and theft.”
The most dangerous place in Canada, according to the rankings, is Thompson, Manitoba. That city has a population of 14,146 and has a CSI of 366. This is the third year in a row the city has held the dubious distinction of being Canada’s most dangerous.
Thompson’s CSI in 2013 was 254.81. At that time, they ranked 3rd on the list.
Thames Centre, an Ontario municipality with a population of 14,165 located just outside London, is ranked the least dangerous with a CSI of 39, which is up from 2013 when it was 28.48 and they ranked 87th on the list.
Photo courtesy Tex Texin via Flickr.
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