THUNDER BAY -- Despite the negative attention Thunder Bay has received from some national news media in recent years, the latest data from Statistics Canada shows the city's reputation as a hotbed for crime may not be completely deserved.
Maclean's Magazine analyzed police-reported crimes across the country in 2016, and determined that, in respect to all crimes, Thunder Bay is the 58th most dangerous community in Canada.
With a Crime Severity Index of 89, Thunder Bay's CSI is far below that of numerous communities in western Canada. The CSI is a rating that takes into account the volume and the seriousness of criminal offences.
North Battleford, Saskatchewan leads the list with a CSI of 353. Among cities with populations similar to Thunder Bay, Prince George, B.C. has a CSI of 154, putting it 11th on the list.
Thunder Bay's crime rate looks much less favourable in separate ratings for homicides—where the city is 8th—and for violent crime, where the city is listed in the 22nd position.
In the rankings for robbery rates, Thunder Bay is 12th. Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina and Toronto are among the cities with worse robbery rates.
Unlike some other reports on crime rates which have focused only on selected cities, the Maclean's report includes data from 229 communities across the country.
