Safe Cities profile series: Key indicators by census metropolitan area
Thunder Bay, Ontario

Release date: May 15, 2020
On this page

Satisfaction with safety

Thunder Bay 84%, Ontario 89%, Canada 88%

proportion of people who reported being satisfied with their personal safety from crime in 2014

* significantly different from Thunder Bay (p < 0.05)

Police-reported violent crime rate in 2018

Thunder Bay 1,545, Ontario 899, Canada 1,143

rate per 100,000 population

Ten-year change in police-reported crime rate (2008 to 2018)

Thunder Bay -33%, Ontario -16%, Canada, -17%

Population and demographics

Map showing the location of Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay was home to 126,481 people in 2018, and it had a population density of 49 residents per square kilometre. Over one in four (27%) residents were aged 24 and younger, on par with the distribution in Ontario (29%) and across Canada (28%).

About 12.7% of Thunder Bay residents were part of the Indigenous population (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) in 2016, notably higher than Ontario (2.8%) and Canada (4.9%). Immigrants represented around one in ten (8.8%) residents, far lower than Ontario (29.1%) and Canada (21.9%). A small proportion (6.6%) of immigrants in Thunder Bay were recent immigrants (since 2011), lower than Ontario (12.3%) and Canada (16.1%). There was a notably smaller proportion of people who identified as a visible minority in Thunder Bay (4.0%) than Ontario (29.3%) and Canada overall (22.3%).

Education, employment and income

In 2016, nearly two in three (63%) Thunder Bay residents aged 25 to 64 had completed some form of postsecondary education, one in four (25%) had completed high school (or equivalent) as their highest level of education, and one in eight (12%) had completed neither.

In 2018, the unemployment rate in Thunder Bay (5.1%) was slightly lower than in Ontario (5.6%) and Canada’s provinces (5.8%). Households in Thunder Bay earned a median after-tax annual income of $53,060 in 2017, similar to Ontario ($53,850) and Canada ($52,090). The percentage of families considered low-income in Thunder Bay (15%) was just under Ontario (17%) and Canada (17%).

Housing and families

On average, there were 2.3 persons per household in Thunder Bay in 2016, similar to Ontario (2.6) and Canada (2.4). Most (72%) households in Thunder Bay owned their homes, on par with Ontario (70%) and Canada (68%). When a household spends 30% or more of its income on shelter costs, it is considered to live in unaffordable housing: this was the case for one in five (19%) Thunder Bay households, lower than in Ontario (28%) and Canada (24%). A small proportion (7.3%) of occupied private dwellings in Thunder Bay were in need of major repairs, slightly higher than Ontario (6.1%) and Canada (6.5%). One-fifth (19%) of Thunder Bay families were lone-parent families, slightly higher than in Ontario (17%) and Canada (16%). In 2018, there were an estimated 474 homeless individuals living in Thunder Bay.

Community safety and sense of belonging

Self-reported experiences of victimization

Police-reported crime

  • In 2018, Thunder Bay police reported an overall crime rate of 5,778 incidents per 100,000 population, 40% higher than in Ontario (4,113) and 5% higher than in Canada (5,488).
  • Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), police-reported crime declined by 33% in Thunder Bay, while a smaller decline was seen in Ontario (-16%) and Canada (-17%).
  • The severity of crime in Thunder Bay increased by 9% between 2017 and 2018, mostly due to an increase in breaking and entering; robbery; fraud; trafficking, production and distribution of cannabis (pre-legalization); attempted murder; and homicide. Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), the severity of crime in Thunder Bay declined by 12%, compared with a 15% decline in Ontario and a 17% decline in Canada.

Property crime

Violent crime

  • In 2018, there were 1,545 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 population reported by police in Thunder Bay, 72% higher than Ontario (899) and 35% higher than Canada overall (1,143).
    • Over half of victims of violent crime were female in Thunder Bay (54%), Ontario (53%) and Canada (53%).
  • Between 2008 and 2018:
    • The violent crime rate in Thunder Bay declined by 15%, similar to the decline seen in Ontario (-14%) and Canada (-14%).
    • The severity of violent crime in Thunder Bay increased by 37%, while there was a decline in Ontario (-11%) and Canada (-13%).
  • Violent crime against girls and women in Thunder Bay between 2009 and 2018 declined to a larger extent than violent crime against boys and men (-28% versus -21%).

Hate crime

Intimate partner violence

Homicide

Charts and tables

Chart 1 start

Chart 1 Police-reported violent and non-violent Crime Severity Indexes, census metropolitan area of Hamilton, Ontario and Canada, 1998 to 2018

Data table for Chart 1 
Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Violent Crime Severity Index, Non-violent Crime Severity Index, Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, calculated using index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Violent Crime Severity Index Non-violent Crime Severity Index
Thunder Bay Ontario Canada Thunder Bay Ontario Canada
index
1998 115 85 98 137 107 127
1999 114 83 99 115 96 116
2000 97 85 98 121 91 110
2001 108 85 97 111 87 108
2002 90 82 96 97 85 107
2003 95 81 98 110 84 110
2004 100 79 96 113 78 107
2005 118 83 99 107 74 102
2006 125 87 100 106 75 100
2007 130 86 98 103 70 94
2008 117 82 95 103 67 89
2009 138 82 94 103 64 85
2010 139 78 89 101 61 81
2011 124 73 86 99 57 75
2012 119 70 82 77 55 73
2013 113 62 74 70 49 67
2014 138 58 71 72 47 65
2015 120 60 75 66 48 68
2016 124 65 77 69 49 70
2017 142 70 81 66 51 71
2018 160 73 82 71 55 72

Chart 1 end

Chart 2 start

Chart 2 Police-reported violent crime, by sex of victim, census metropolitan area of Hamilton, Ontario and Canada, 2009 to 2018

Data table for Chart 2 
Data table for Chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 2. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Female victims, Male victims, Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Female victims Male victims
Thunder Bay Ontario Canada Thunder Bay Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 1,823 937 1,206 1,461 940 1,202
2010 1,858 917 1,209 1,486 913 1,162
2011 1,755 872 1,124 1,463 859 1,087
2012 1,613 824 1,079 1,250 809 1,048
2013 1,634 771 1,004 1,403 726 947
2014 1,669 721 952 1,248 675 898
2015 1,529 729 970 1,214 687 914
2016 1,533 741 978 1,279 708 910
2017 1,505 790 1,019 1,257 739 926
2018 1,321 834 1,048 1,155 766 936

Chart 2 end

Chart 3 start

Chart 3 Police-reported property crime, census metropolitan area of Hamilton, Ontario and Canada, 2009 to 2018

Data table for Chart 3 
Data table for Chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 3. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Thunder Bay Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 5,900 3,193 4,122
2010 5,530 2,968 3,838
2011 5,077 2,760 3,536
2012 4,111 2,648 3,438
2013 3,600 2,365 3,154
2014 3,708 2,281 3,100
2015 3,534 2,290 3,231
2016 3,367 2,315 3,239
2017 3,184 2,428 3,266
2018 3,321 2,621 3,339

Chart 3 end

Table 1 start


Table 1
Police-reported crime rate for selected offences, census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime rate for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Percent difference between Thunder Bay and Ontario and Percent difference between Thunder Bay and Canada, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Thunder Bay Ontario Canada Percent difference between Thunder Bay and Ontario Percent difference between Thunder Bay and Canada
rate
Total crime (excluding traffic) 5,778 4,113 5,488 40 5
Total violent crime 1,545 899 1,143 72 35
Violations causing death and attempted murder 15 5 4 217 257
Sexual assault and sexual violations against childrenTable 1 Note 1 116 91 101 28 15
AssaultsTable 1 Note 2 897 500 649 80 38
Other violent offences 516 303 389 70 32
Total property crime 3,321 2,621 3,339 27 -0.5
Breaking and entering 484 319 431 52 12
TheftTable 1 Note 3 1,787 1,506 1,720 19 4
Fraud 406 381 402 7 1
MischiefTable 1 Note 4 589 372 699 58 -16
Other property crime offences 55 43 86 27 -36
Total other Criminal Code offences 912 593 1,006 54 -9
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 175 199 339 -12 -48
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 5 148 92 178 61 -16
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 6 2 6 12 -62 -80
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 7 2 0.6 0.7 328 255
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 1 Note 7 0 0.4 0.3 -100 -100
Other Criminal Code traffic offences 22 99 148 -77 -85
Total drug offences 117 146 225 -20 -48
Total other federal statute offences 17 29 70 -43 -76
Total all offences 6,087 4,487 6,123 36 -0.6

Table 1 end

Table 2 start


Table 2
Police-reported violent crime rate for selected offences, by sex of victim, census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported violent crime rate for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Female victims and Male victims, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Thunder Bay Ontario Canada
Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims
rate
Total violent crime 1,321 1,155 834 766 1,048 936
Violations causing death and attempted murder 13 18 3 7 2 6
Homicide 5 8 1 3 0.9 3
Other violations causing deathTable 2 Note 1 2 2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3
Attempted murder 6 8 1 4 1 3
Sexual offences 208 18 152 22 170 23
Sexual assault 195 16 130 17 134 16
Sexual assault – level 3 – aggravated 3 0 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.1
Sexual assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 2 0 2 0.5 2 0.4
Sexual assault – level 1 190 16 128 17 131 16
Sexual violations against childrenTable 2 Note 2 13 2 22 5 36 7
Assaults 854 930 467 510 613 644
Physical assault 851 847 456 463 599 590
Assault – level 3 – aggravated 17 45 4 10 6 13
Assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 195 265 83 126 111 173
Assault – level 1 638 537 369 327 483 404
Assault against a peace officer 3 77 7 37 10 48
Other assaults 0 6 4 10 4 7
Other violent offences 247 190 213 227 263 262
Firearms – use of, discharge, pointing 2 3 2 6 2 6
Robbery 57 96 27 83 31 75
Forcible confinement or kidnapping 49 0 12 2 15 3
Trafficking in personsTable 2 Note 3 2 0 2 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value. 1 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value.
Extortion 2 5 4 7 6 9
Criminal harassment 46 19 52 16 53 17
Uttering threats 60 56 85 102 114 134
Indecent or harassing communications 8 0 16 8 22 9
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images 13 6 5 0.8 7 1
Commodification of sexual activityTable 2 Note 4 0 0 0.6 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value. 1 0.1
Other violent offences 10 3 6 3 10 8
Total traffic offences 0 2 2 3 16 21
Traffic violations causing death 0 0 0.3 0.7 0.4 0.9
Traffic violations causing bodily harm 0 2 2 3 6 7
Traffic violations – injury unspecified or unknownTable 2 Note 5 0 0 0.1 0 9 12

Table 2 end

Table 3 start


Table 3
Police-reported crime for selected offences, census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), Thunder Bay, Ontario and Canada, calculated using number and rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Thunder Bay Ontario Canada
number rate number rate number rate
Total non-violent crime 5,695 4,542 513,941 3,588 1,845,269 4,979
Total property crime 4,164 3,321 375,402 2,621 1,237,324 3,339
Breaking and entering 607 484 45,736 319 159,812 431
Possess stolen propertyTable 3 Note 1 53 42 4,854 34 23,898 64
Theft of motor vehicle 253 202 23,952 167 86,132 232
Theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) 33 26 5,887 41 20,113 54
Theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) 1,955 1,559 185,837 1,297 531,312 1,434
Fraud 493 393 49,193 343 129,409 349
Identity theft 3 2 426 3 3,745 10
Identity fraud 13 10 4,907 34 15,839 43
MischiefTable 3 Note 2 738 589 53,236 372 259,064 699
Arson 16 13 1,374 10 8,000 22
Total other offences 1,143 912 84,959 593 372,834 1,006
Weapons violations 39 31 4,415 31 16,610 45
Child pornographyTable 3 Note 3 6 5 1,669 12 5,843 16
ProstitutionTable 3 Note 4 0 0 29 0.2 110 0.3
Terrorism 0 0 58 0.4 102 0.3
Disturb the peace 6 5 5,075 35 94,378 255
Administration of justice offences 1,030 822 66,876 467 226,864 612
Other offences 62 49 6,837 48 28,927 78
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 220 175 28,446 199 125,544 339
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 5 186 148 13,216 92 65,820 178
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 6 3 2 894 6 4,429 12
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 7 3 2 80 0.6 250 0.7
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 3 Note 7 0 0 55 0.4 94 0.3
Other Criminal Code traffic offences 28 22 14,201 99 54,951 148
Total drug offences 147 117 20,937 146 83,483 225
Total other federal statute offences 21 17 4,197 29 26,084 70
Human traffickingTable 3 Note 8 2 2 94 0.7 112 0.3
Youth Criminal Justice Act 16 13 1,076 8 4,823 13
Other federal statute offences 3 2 3,027 21 21,149 57

Table 3 end

Table 4 start


Table 4
Police-reported crime rate, census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay, 2008 to 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime rate. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Violent crime, Property crime and Total crime, calculated using number, rate and percent change in rate from previous year units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Violent crime Property crime Total crime
number rate percent change in rate from previous year number rate percent change in rate from previous year number rate percent change in rate from previous year
2008 2,180 1,815 -4 6,170 5,136 -0.3 10,350 8,616 0.4
2009 2,176 1,815 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value. 7,073 5,900 15 11,064 9,230 7
2010 2,036 1,698 -6 6,631 5,530 -6 10,526 8,778 -5
2011 1,985 1,653 -3 6,095 5,077 -8 9,978 8,311 -5
2012 1,778 1,478 -11 4,946 4,111 -19 8,504 7,068 -15
2013 1,937 1,583 7 4,406 3,600 -12 7,872 6,432 -9
2014 1,848 1,510 -5 4,539 3,708 3 7,850 6,413 -0.3
2015 1,725 1,414 -6 4,310 3,534 -5 7,432 6,093 -5
2016 1,768 1,447 2 4,113 3,367 -5 7,546 6,177 1
2017 1,907 1,553 7 3,910 3,184 -5 7,530 6,131 -0.7
2018 1,937 1,545 -0.5 4,164 3,321 4 7,244 5,778 -6
Percent change from 2008 to 2018 -11 -15 Note ...: not applicable -33 -35 Note ...: not applicable -30 -33 Note ...: not applicable

Table 4 end

E use with caution

Note: This fact sheet contains data that come from multiple sources across multiple reference years. Some figures may be presented differently than in other Statistics Canada publications due to rounding. For detailed information on data definitions and sources, please refer to the Safe Cities profile series: Definitions and data sources document.

Date modified: