Photo: Rowanswiki · CC0Ottewell sees more crime per resident than four in five Canadian towns
Counting crime the police covering Ottewell reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #229 of 474 in Alberta. What’s more, each year brought 14.2 violent incidents and 45.0 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+). Of the two halves, violence comes to 128.3 and other offences to 103.6, beside norms of 75.2 and 54.2. The index fell from 114.9 in 2023 to 103.9 in 2025.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Area-wide: crime severity and crime rate, counted over the Edmonton service area.
What’s behind Ottewell’s grade
How sure: A less certain grade than most: it reads the city’s overall figure, which can hide how Ottewell itself compares.
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #229 of 474 in Alberta and #2,009 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Edmonton’s crime, type by type
These are Edmonton’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Edmonton runs highest on robbery (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.4), motor vehicle theft (3.9 per 1,000 against 1.7) and break and enter (4.8 per 1,000 against 2.2). Drug offences sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 34.3 | 0.03 | 68% |
| Sexual violations against children | 426.7 | 0.4 | 56% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 622 | 0.5 | 86% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 170 | 0.1 | 48% |
| Robbery | 1,333.7 | 1.1 | 35% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 100.3 | 0.09 | 80% |
| Other violent violations | 452 | 0.4 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 5,679.3 | 4.8 | 13% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1,457 | 1.2 | 65% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4,638.7 | 3.9 | 7% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1,538.3 | 1.3 | 4% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 25,561.3 | 21.4 | 16% |
| Mischief | 6,367.3 | 5.4 | 18% |
| Weapons violations | 1,168.3 | 1 | 72% |
| Administration of justice violations | 17,903.7 | 15.1 | 98% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 772.7 | 0.7 | 74% |
| Drug violations | 889.3 | 0.7 | 79% |
| Impaired driving | 1,242 | 1 | 92% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 31 | 0.03 | 100% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Ottewell, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its highest year was 2023, at 114.9, and its lowest 2025, at 103.9. For the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ottewell | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 103.9 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 111.1 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 114.9 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Ottewell, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Ottewell
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottewell | 8,040 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Holyrood | 3,305 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Gold Bar | 2,685 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Forest Heights | 4,118 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| King Edward Park | 8,399 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Capilano | 5,046 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
| Bonnie Doon | 6,697 | 110 | 128.3 | C− |
6 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Severity, weighed. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The whole city’s numbers. Edmonton’s neighbourhood crime data has left the city’s open-data site and carries no open licence; Ottewell takes the city-wide figures.
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in Ottewell
Is Ottewell safe?
Police-reported crime in Ottewell scores 110 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 14.2 violent incidents and 45 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. In the middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more the figure is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Ottewell?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (21.4 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 18.1, and assault, at 8, follow.
Is crime going up in Ottewell?
It went down 10% between 2023 and 2025, from 114.9 to 103.9.
How much of Ottewell’s crime do police solve?
About 34% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 48% of violent and 27% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the city.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).