Guelph had the lowest victim rates for police-reported violent crimes in 2021, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The report states Guelph has an average rate of 454 male victims for every 100,000 residents when it comes to police-reported instances of violent crime, the majority being between the ages of 18 and 34.
In comparison, Waterloo Region had 1,249 instances in 2021.
Even Brantford, with a much smaller population, had nearly double Guelph’s police-reported violence at 857.
The rate for women and girls was larger, but still smaller than all 35 other municipalities listed in the report, at 626 for every 100,000 residents. The majority of victims are between the ages of 12 and 24.
Meanwhile, Waterloo Region had a rate of 1,512 and Brantford 1,347.
Compared to boys ages 12 to 17, girls are nearly three times as likely to be the victim of a violent, police-reported crime in Guelph; women ages 18 to 24 are almost double that of men in Guelph.
These numbers are in line with the national average, as women and girls make up 54 per cent of victims of police-reported violent crime. According to the report, this is largely due to sexual assault offenses.
However, boys and men experienced higher rates of more severe forms of victimization, according to the report, including homicide, robbery and extortion.
Still, the overall rates are significantly less than the national average at 1,015 for men and boys and 1,190 for women and girls.
For Guelph Police, these stats, along with the fact that Guelph had a 10 per cent decrease in violent crime in 2021, are encouraging.
“Not only did Guelph have the lowest number of actual victims in both gender categories, but I would suggest more importantly had the lowest rate of victimization for males across all age groups,” said Guelph Police media relations coordinator Scott Tracey.
Guelph also had “the lowest rate of victimization across three of six age groups for females and in the other three age categories showed the second, third and fourth lowest rate of victimization.”
While Tracey said the data in the report is “undoubtedly good news for the Guelph community,” there are too many factors at play to speculate the reason behind it.
“It is also important to remember that as one of the fastest-growing cities in Ontario, we must ensure proactive investment to ensure Guelph remains a safe and healthy community,” he said.
