Thunder Bay Crime in 2024: Property Crime, Violence and the Cost to a City’s Reputation

THUNDER BAY – CRIME NEWS – Through the course of the past year, Thunder Bay appears to be in a transition. Incidents of violent crime across the city have many people feeling serious concern for their safety. Property crime has people spending money on alarms, cameras, locks and chains just to protect their property.

Those feelings are sadly backed up by statistics on crime in the city.

Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s Crime Severity Index fell four per cent in 2024 to 77.9, while the national police-reported crime rate fell to 5,672 incidents per 100,000 people.

Thunder Bay moved in the opposite direction

The Thunder Bay census metropolitan area recorded a CSI of 107.7, up eight per cent, and a crime rate of 6,867 per 100,000, placing it sixth among Canadian CMAs for overall crime severity behind Chilliwack, Kamloops, Winnipeg, Red Deer and Kelowna.

Ontario’s CSI was 60.7, making Thunder Bay’s overall index far higher than both the provincial and national benchmarks.

That role as the regional hub makes crime more than a neighbourhood concern: it affects local residents, First Nations families travelling to the city, regional businesses, tourism operators, students, workers and visitors using Thunder Bay as a gateway to the North Shore, inland highways and remote communities.

While the old mantra was that violent crime was centred on individuals in the drug trade – several recent incidents has demonstrated that is not accurate anymore.

What the latest crime numbers show

The CSI should be read carefully. Statistics Canada says it measures both the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime, but is not meant to be used alone as a universal measure of safety.

It also does not show how crime is experienced differently by groups of people, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, who are overrepresented among victims of homicide, self-reported victims of violence and in the criminal justice system.

Thunder Bay Police Service data cover the City of Thunder Bay and Oliver Paipoonge, a 678-square-kilometre service area with a recorded population of about 117,000. TBPS cautions that its 2024 annual report figures were subject to final Statistics Canada validation.

Even with that caution, the local numbers are striking: 8,458 Criminal Code incidents, 2,865 persons charged, 244 youths charged, 1,450 assaults and 188 sexual assault or sexual offence incidents.

Property crime: shoplifting is a major local pressure point

Thunder Bay Police reported 4,290 property-related crimes in 2024, including 1,623 shoplifting incidents, 2,543 thefts under $5,000, 398 break and enters, 423 thefts from motor vehicles, 646 mischief incidents, 478 fraud or identity theft files and 22 arsons.

Nationally, shoplifting of $5,000 or under rose 14 per cent in 2024 to 182,361 incidents, or 442 incidents per 100,000 population.

Statistics Canada says shoplifting has increased for four years in a row and was 66 per cent higher in 2024 than in 2014. The agency also notes that shoplifting can produce “considerable financial loss” for businesses.

Using the TBPS service population of roughly 117,000 as a rough benchmark, 1,623 shoplifting files would translate to about 1,390 incidents per 100,000 people.

That is not a final Statistics Canada rate and should not be treated as a formal national ranking, but it illustrates why retail theft is being felt sharply by local stores, shopping centres, pharmacies, grocers and small businesses.

For Thunder Bay retailers, the cost is not only the stolen product. Repeated theft can mean higher insurance premiums, more security guards and cameras, locked display cases, reduced hours, staff turnover, repairs after vandalism and a weaker sense of safety for workers.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reported in 2026 that half of Canadian small business owners said crime had increased in their community, with many changing operations through measures such as locked doors during business hours, buddy systems and limiting shifts where employees work alone.

Violent crime: Thunder Bay’s most serious challenge

Thunder Bay’s overall CSI is high, but the city’s violent crime profile is the deeper concern. One published comparison using Statistics Canada CSI data for the 40 most-populated metropolitan areas placed Thunder Bay first for violent crime severity in 2024, with a violent CSI of 206.31 and a violent Criminal Code violation rate of 2,223.51 per 100,000.

That is more than double Canada’s 2024 violent CSI of 99.9.

Local police data underline the issue according to the latest figures.

TBPS reported 1,450 assaults, 80 assaults against peace officers, 188 sexual assault or sexual offence incidents, and 266 robberies in 2024. Its Investigative Services Branch reported eight homicide investigations and eight homicide charges laid, while the service also seized 267 authentic firearms in 2024, compared with 139 in 2023.

Nationally, violent crime fell slightly in 2024, but remained elevated after three years of increases. Canada recorded 591,856 violent crime incidents in 2024, or 1,433 per 100,000 people.

Assault level 1 accounted for 215,460 incidents nationally, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm for 87,500 incidents, aggravated assault for 4,254 incidents and robbery for 24,018 incidents.

Stabbings: why the public statistics are incomplete

Stabbings are among the incidents that most alarm the public, but they are not reported in a simple, stand-alone “stabbing” category in the main public CSI tables or the TBPS annual summary. A knife attack may be counted as assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, robbery, attempted murder or homicide, depending on the facts, injury level and charge approved.

That matters because residents may see recurring reports of stabbings while annual data show broader legal categories. Under the Criminal Code, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm includes carrying, using or threatening to use a weapon, causing bodily harm, or choking, suffocating or strangling a complainant. Aggravated assault applies where a person wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of another person.

The absence of a simple public “stabbings” total does not mean the issue is minor. It means the most reliable interpretation is through the wider violent-crime categories, especially assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, robbery, attempted murder and homicide.

How the Criminal Code treats common property and violent offences

“Shoplifting” is generally prosecuted as theft. Under Criminal Code section 322, theft involves taking or converting property fraudulently and without colour of right, with intent to deprive the owner of it. For theft over $5,000, section 334 provides a maximum sentence of 10 years if prosecuted by indictment; for theft of $5,000 or under, the maximum is two years if prosecuted by indictment, or the lower summary conviction route if the Crown proceeds summarily.

Thunder Bay Police recently made a major series of arrests in Project Eclipse has led to the seizure of over $39,000 in stolen items and 256 charges. The Thunder Bay Police Service Break, Enter, and Armed Robbery (BEAR) Unit led the investigation.

The successful completion of this lengthy investigation was made possible through funding provided by the Ontario Government, Ministry of the Solicitor General in which the Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario supported this investigation.

The investigation began in September 2025, running through February 2026. The project investigated thefts and robberies from numerous businesses in Thunder Bay.

The cost of shoplifting increases the cost of groceries and other products for consumers.

Assault under section 266 carries a maximum of five years if prosecuted by indictment, while assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm under section 267 carries a maximum of 10 years if prosecuted by indictment.

Aggravated assault under section 268 is an indictable offence with a maximum of 14 years. Robbery under section 343 involves theft combined with violence, threats, assault with intent to steal, or theft while armed; section 344 provides a maximum of life imprisonment for robbery, with specific minimum penalties in some firearm and criminal-organization circumstances.

Break and enter under section 348 carries a maximum of life imprisonment when the offence involves a dwelling-house, and up to 10 years for other places if prosecuted by indictment.

In practice, sentencing depends on the facts: violence, weapons, prior record, planning, addiction or mental-health context, restitution, guilty plea, rehabilitation, victim impact and public safety.

Courts must also consider proportionate sentences, alternatives to custody where appropriate, and the circumstances of Indigenous offenders under section 718.2(e).

Economic impact: policing is only the visible cost

Thunder Bay’s direct public cost of crime is most visible in the police budget. TBPS reported 2024 actual net operating expenditures of $57.9 million and total gross expenditures of $66.2 million. Its five-year net operating and capital budget rose from $48.3 million in 2020 to $61.0 million in 2024.

Those figures do not capture the full cost of crime.

Businesses absorb theft losses, damaged property, security upgrades, insurance deductibles and lost productivity. Victims face medical, counselling, transportation, court and time costs. The city and province carry added pressure through police, courts, prosecution, corrections, emergency health care, shelters, addictions services and mental-health response.

The TBPS call-load data show how crime overlaps with social and health pressures.

In 2024, the service reported 55,772 calls for service, 2,612 domestic calls, 979 family dispute calls, 2,257 Mental Health Act calls, 361 suspected overdose responses and 206 naloxone administrations. Those are not all crimes, but they show the broader public-safety workload facing officers, paramedics, hospitals, social agencies and families.

Reputation, tourism and business investment

Thunder Bay’s reputation matters because the city sells confidence: confidence to visit, invest, open a storefront, send a child to school, hold a tournament, recruit a doctor, book a hotel room or travel from a northern First Nation for services.

A high CSI does not mean every visitor faces the same risk, and many serious crimes are concentrated by relationship, circumstance, location or time of day. But headlines about violence, shoplifting, robberies and weapons can influence perception long before a visitor or investor studies the details.

Tourism is a real economic asset. Tourism Thunder Bay’s 2024 snapshot reported a 66.4 per cent accommodation occupancy rate, an average daily hotel rate of $187.97, $22.8 million in event economic impact, $4.3 million in cruise ship economic impact and $38.4 million in project GDP. A reputation for disorder, downtown unease or unpredictable violence can put pressure on those gains, especially for conventions, sport events, cruise visitors, family travel and U.S. border-region tourism.

Public confidence also affects residents. TBPS reported that its 2024 Citizen Satisfaction and Trust Survey found 54 per cent of respondents felt at least somewhat safe in Thunder Bay, while younger respondents reported lower feelings of safety.

Eighty-two per cent said they would be willing to contact police if they were victims of crime or worried about something, and 68 per cent said they felt Thunder Bay police would treat them with respect.

For Northwestern Ontario, the reputational issue is regional. Thunder Bay is where many remote and rural families come for court, hospital care, shopping, post-secondary education, sports, air travel and social services. Indigenous youth and families from northern communities have specific safety concerns rooted in past harms, racism, missing-person cases, trauma and unequal treatment.

Statistics Canada’s caution that CSI does not capture how different groups experience harm is especially important in Thunder Bay.

Historical and regional context

Thunder Bay’s crime picture cannot be separated from its role as a hub city.

Thunder Bay businesses serve local residents, Oliver Paipoonge, nearby First Nations, highway travellers, seasonal workers, students, patients and people arriving from across the northwest.

TBPS reported that, in intelligence-led and drug investigations involving non-district offenders, 121 of 217 people arrested — 56 per cent — were living outside the Thunder Bay district.

That does not mean crime is imported or that local responsibility disappears.

It means enforcement, prevention and treatment must be regional. Drug trafficking, firearms, homelessness, mental health, poverty, trauma, youth disconnection and repeat offending do not stop at municipal boundaries.

Thunder Bay’s solutions have to involve the city, police, First Nations leadership, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, OPP, health providers, schools, shelters, housing agencies, courts, downtown businesses and senior governments.

How people can keep themselves safer

Personal safety measures cannot solve crime, and responsibility always rests with offenders, not victims. Still, practical steps can reduce risk.

Residents and visitors should plan travel at night, use well-lit routes, stay aware of surroundings, keep phones charged, tell someone where they are going, and avoid escalating arguments or intervening physically in thefts, fights or disturbances. In an immediate emergency, call 911.

For non-emergency reporting, use the police non-emergency line or online reporting where appropriate.

Drivers should lock vehicles, remove bags, tools, electronics and change from view, avoid leaving keys in vehicles, and park in visible, well-lit areas. Homeowners and tenants should lock doors and windows, use exterior lighting, secure sheds and garages, record serial numbers for bikes and tools, and report suspicious activity.

Businesses should train staff not to chase or physically confront shoplifters, maintain clear sightlines, use good lighting and cameras, keep incident logs, reduce cash on site, review opening and closing procedures, and avoid leaving employees alone during higher-risk periods where possible.

For repeated theft or violence, businesses should share patterns with police, neighbouring stores and business associations.

People going out should plan a sober ride before drinking or using drugs. Safer options include U-Ride where available, taxis, public transit where practical, calling a friend or family member, arranging a designated driver, or staying overnight.

TBPS reported 191 impaired-driving charges and 80 motor-vehicle collisions involving impaired drivers in 2024, including one fatality and 17 non-fatal injuries in those impaired-related collisions.

The bottom line

Thunder Bay is not defined by crime statistics, but the numbers cannot be minimized.

The city’s overall CSI is among the highest for Canadian CMAs, its violent CSI stands out nationally, and local shoplifting and property crime are imposing daily costs on businesses and residents.

The economic impact is measured in police budgets, retail losses, insurance, health-care demand, court costs, lost confidence and reputational drag.

The response has to be equally broad: targeted enforcement against violent and repeat offenders, better data on stabbings and weapons violence, stronger supports for victims, safer retail and downtown environments, housing and addictions treatment, youth prevention, Indigenous-led safety work, and transparent policing that earns public trust.