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

Release date: May 15, 2020
On this page

Satisfaction with safety

Guelph 94%, Ontario 89%, Canada 88%*

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

* significantly different from Guelph (p < 0.05)

Police-reported violent crime rate in 2018

Guelph 844, Ontario 899, Canada 1,143

rate per 100,000 population

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

Guelph +5%, Ontario -16%, Canada, -17%

Population and demographics

Map showing the location of Guelph, Ontario

Guelph, Ontario

Guelph was home to 162,612 people in 2018, and it had a population density of 274 residents per square kilometre. Three in ten (30%) residents were aged 24 and younger, on par with the distribution in Ontario (29%) and across Canada (28%).

About 1.5% of Guelph residents were part of the Indigenous population (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) in 2016, lower than Ontario (2.8%) and Canada (4.9%). Immigrants represented one in five (21%) residents, lower than Ontario (29%) but similar to Canada (22%). About one in eight (12%) immigrants in Guelph were recent immigrants (since 2011), the same as Ontario (12%) but lower than Canada (16%). While there was a notably smaller proportion of people who identified as a visible minority in Guelph (17%) than Ontario (29%), it was closer to the proportion in Canada overall (22%).

Education, employment and income

In 2016, two in three (66.2%) Guelph residents aged 25 to 64 had completed some form of postsecondary education, one in four (24.7%) had completed high school (or equivalent) as their highest level of education, and one in ten (9.1%) had completed neither.

In 2018, the unemployment rate in Guelph (3.8%) was lower than in Ontario (5.6%) and Canada’s provinces (5.8%). Households in Guelph earned a median after-tax annual income of $60,950 in 2017, higher than in Ontario ($53,850) and Canada ($52,090). The percentage of families considered low-income was lower in Guelph (12%) than in Ontario (17%) and Canada (17%).

Housing and families

On average, there were 2.5 persons per household in Guelph in 2016, similar to Ontario (2.6) and Canada (2.4). Most (70%) households in Guelph 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 almost one in four (23%) Guelph households, lower than in Ontario (28%) but close to Canada (24%). A small proportion (5.0%) of occupied private dwellings in Guelph were in need of major repairs, slightly lower than Ontario (6.1%) and Canada (6.5%). About one-sixth (15%) of Guelph families were lone-parent families, similar to Ontario (17%) and Canada (16%). In 2018, there were an estimated 325 homeless individuals living in Guelph.

Community safety and sense of belonging

Police-reported crime

  • In 2018, Guelph police reported an overall crime rate of 5,079 incidents per 100,000 population, 23% higher than in Ontario (4,113) but 7% lower than in Canada (5,488).
  • Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), police-reported crime increased by 5% in Guelph, while a decline was seen in Ontario (-16%) and Canada (-17%).
  • The severity of crime in Guelph increased by 1% between 2017 and 2018, mostly due to an increase in breaking and entering. Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), the severity of crime in Guelph increased by 16%, compared with a 15% decline in Ontario and a 17% decline in Canada.

Property crime

Violent crime

  • In 2018, there were 844 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 population reported by police in Guelph, 6% lower than Ontario (899) and 26% lower than Canada overall (1,143).
    • In Guelph, Ontario and Canada, over half of victims of violent crime were female (56%, 53% and 53%, respectively).
  • Between 2008 and 2018:
    • The violent crime rate in Guelph increased by 4%, while there was a decline seen in Ontario (-14%) and Canada (-14%).
    • The severity of violent crime in Guelph increased by 43%, whereas there was a decline in Ontario (-11%) and Canada (-13%).
  • Violent crime against girls and women declined to a smaller extent in Guelph than violent crime against boys and men between 2009 and 2018 (-4% versus -18%).

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, Guelph, Ontario and Canada, calculated using index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Violent Crime Severity Index Non-violent Crime Severity Index
Guelph Ontario Canada Guelph Ontario Canada
index
2006 63 87 100 59 75 100
2007 49 86 98 63 70 94
2008 42 82 95 64 67 89
2009 51 82 94 63 64 85
2010 45 78 89 53 61 81
2011 50 73 86 47 57 75
2012 53 70 82 50 55 73
2013 42 62 74 43 49 67
2014 47 58 71 49 47 65
2015 48 60 75 50 48 68
2016 50 65 77 56 49 70
2017 59 70 81 68 51 71
2018 61 73 82 69 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, Guelph, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Female victims Male victims
Guelph Ontario Canada Guelph Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 780 937 1,206 742 940 1,202
2010 841 917 1,209 825 913 1,162
2011 864 872 1,124 737 859 1,087
2012 939 824 1,079 744 809 1,048
2013 825 771 1,004 598 726 947
2014 678 721 952 594 675 898
2015 685 729 970 537 687 914
2016 705 741 978 504 708 910
2017 733 790 1,019 591 739 926
2018 748 834 1,048 610 766 936

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), Guelph, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Guelph Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 3,661 3,193 4,122
2010 2,867 2,968 3,838
2011 2,652 2,760 3,536
2012 2,743 2,648 3,438
2013 2,355 2,365 3,154
2014 2,550 2,281 3,100
2015 2,607 2,290 3,231
2016 3,044 2,315 3,239
2017 3,311 2,428 3,266
2018 3,200 2,621 3,339

Chart 3 end

Table 1 start


Table 1
Police-reported crime rate for selected offences, census metropolitan area of Guelph, 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), Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Percent difference between Guelph and Ontario and Percent difference between Guelph and Canada, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Guelph Ontario Canada Percent difference between Guelph and Ontario Percent difference between Guelph and Canada
rate
Total crime (excluding traffic) 5,079 4,113 5,488 23 -7
Total violent crime 844 899 1,143 -6 -26
Violations causing death and attempted murder 2 5 4 -55 -50
Sexual assault and sexual violations against childrenTable 1 Note 1 128 91 101 41 27
AssaultsTable 1 Note 2 441 500 649 -12 -32
Other violent offences 274 303 389 -10 -30
Total property crime 3,200 2,621 3,339 22 -4
Breaking and entering 535 319 431 67 24
TheftTable 1 Note 3 1,859 1,506 1,720 23 8
Fraud 353 381 402 -7 -12
MischiefTable 1 Note 4 396 372 699 7 -43
Other property crime offences 58 43 86 32 -33
Total other Criminal Code offences 1,034 593 1,006 74 3
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 161 199 339 -19 -52
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 5 92 92 178 0.1 -48
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 6 8 6 12 25 -35
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 7 0 0.6 0.7 -100 -100
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 1 Note 7 0 0.4 0.3 -100 -100
Other Criminal Code traffic offences 61 99 148 -38 -59
Total drug offences 178 146 225 22 -21
Total other federal statute offences 8 29 70 -73 -89
Total all offences 5,426 4,487 6,123 21 -11

Table 1 end

Table 2 start


Table 2
Police-reported violent crime rate for selected offences, by sex of victim, census metropolitan area of Guelph, 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), Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Female victims and Male victims, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Guelph Ontario Canada
Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims
rate
Total violent crime 748 610 834 766 1,048 936
Violations causing death and attempted murder 1 3 3 7 2 6
Homicide 0 1 1 3 0.9 3
Other violations causing deathTable 2 Note 1 0 0 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3
Attempted murder 1 1 1 4 1 3
Sexual offences 192 39 152 22 170 23
Sexual assault 157 30 130 17 134 16
Sexual assault – level 3 – aggravated 0 0 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.1
Sexual assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 0 0 2 0.5 2 0.4
Sexual assault – level 1 157 30 128 17 131 16
Sexual violations against childrenTable 2 Note 2 35 9 22 5 36 7
Assaults 421 458 467 510 613 644
Physical assault 408 408 456 463 599 590
Assault – level 3 – aggravated 6 10 4 10 6 13
Assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 63 116 83 126 111 173
Assault – level 1 340 282 369 327 483 404
Assault against a peace officer 10 38 7 37 10 48
Other assaults 3 13 4 10 4 7
Other violent offences 134 110 213 227 263 262
Firearms – use of, discharge, pointing 0 0 2 6 2 6
Robbery 6 25 27 83 31 75
Forcible confinement or kidnapping 15 1 12 2 15 3
Trafficking in personsTable 2 Note 3 1 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 1 4 4 7 6 9
Criminal harassment 38 6 52 16 53 17
Uttering threats 62 69 85 102 114 134
Indecent or harassing communications 1 1 16 8 22 9
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images 7 0 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 3 3 6 3 10 8
Total traffic offences 0 6 2 3 16 21
Traffic violations causing death 0 0 0.3 0.7 0.4 0.9
Traffic violations causing bodily harm 0 6 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 Guelph, 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), Guelph, Ontario and Canada, calculated using number and rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence Guelph Ontario Canada
number rate number rate number rate
Total non-violent crime 6,446 4,582 513,941 3,588 1,845,269 4,979
Total property crime 4,502 3,200 375,402 2,621 1,237,324 3,339
Breaking and entering 752 535 45,736 319 159,812 431
Possess stolen propertyTable 3 Note 1 64 45 4,854 34 23,898 64
Theft of motor vehicle 201 143 23,952 167 86,132 232
Theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) 24 17 5,887 41 20,113 54
Theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) 2,390 1,699 185,837 1,297 531,312 1,434
Fraud 450 320 49,193 343 129,409 349
Identity theft 18 13 426 3 3,745 10
Identity fraud 29 21 4,907 34 15,839 43
MischiefTable 3 Note 2 557 396 53,236 372 259,064 699
Arson 17 12 1,374 10 8,000 22
Total other offences 1,455 1,034 84,959 593 372,834 1,006
Weapons violations 66 47 4,415 31 16,610 45
Child pornographyTable 3 Note 3 22 16 1,669 12 5,843 16
ProstitutionTable 3 Note 4 0 0 29 0.2 110 0.3
Terrorism 1 0.7 58 0.4 102 0.3
Disturb the peace 26 18 5,075 35 94,378 255
Administration of justice offences 1,254 891 66,876 467 226,864 612
Other offences 86 61 6,837 48 28,927 78
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 227 161 28,446 199 125,544 339
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 5 130 92 13,216 92 65,820 178
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 6 11 8 894 6 4,429 12
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 7 0 0 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 86 61 14,201 99 54,951 148
Total drug offences 251 178 20,937 146 83,483 225
Total other federal statute offences 11 8 4,197 29 26,084 70
Human traffickingTable 3 Note 8 1 0.7 94 0.7 112 0.3
Youth Criminal Justice Act 10 7 1,076 8 4,823 13
Other federal statute offences 0 0 3,027 21 21,149 57

Table 3 end

Table 4 start


Table 4
Police-reported crime rate, census metropolitan area of Guelph, 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 984 808 -0.4 4,303 3,535 1 5,882 4,832 0.3
2009 974 793 -2 4,495 3,661 4 6,082 4,954 3
2010 1,056 850 7 3,564 2,867 -22 5,289 4,255 -14
2011 1,025 815 -4 3,335 2,652 -8 4,980 3,960 -7
2012 1,112 871 7 3,502 2,743 3 5,234 4,099 4
2013 954 737 -15 3,047 2,355 -14 4,603 3,558 -13
2014 864 659 -11 3,342 2,550 8 4,863 3,710 4
2015 919 692 5 3,462 2,607 2 5,199 3,915 6
2016 992 727 5 4,153 3,044 17 6,050 4,434 13
2017 1,154 835 15 4,574 3,311 9 6,945 5,028 13
2018 1,188 844 1 4,502 3,200 -3 7,145 5,079 1
Percent change from 2008 to 2018 21 4 Note ...: not applicable 5 -9 Note ...: not applicable 21 5 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: