Photo: Kitchener-Waterloo Record · Public domainCambridge sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
In 2023 the index stood at 75.8; it fell to 66.8 in 2025. Split in two, the index gives 89.7 for violence and 65.4 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Its Safety Grade, C+ (#680 of 862 in Ontario), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. Per 1,000 residents a year, 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size.
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area.
What stands out about safety in Cambridge
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Cambridge stands 24th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Over the Ontario norm
Within Ontario, the median town comes to 56.2 on the index, against 71.9 in Cambridge. Towns its size ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Cambridge records 7.7 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Cambridge’s C+
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: #680 of 862 in Ontario and #1,466 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.
Cambridge, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (75.8); the low point came in 2025, at 66.8. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cambridge | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.8 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 73.1 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 75.8 | 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 Cambridge, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Cambridge, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Cambridge runs highest on assault (7.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5) and robbery (0.5 per 1,000 against 0.4). Drug offences sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 227.7 | 0.3 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 143.3 | 0.2 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 69 | 0.10 | 52% |
| Robbery | 362.3 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 120.3 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 165.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,068.3 | 3 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 715 | 1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,197 | 1.7 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 290.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,915.7 | 14.2 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,902.3 | 4.2 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 339 | 0.5 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,165.7 | 4.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 741.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 374.7 | 0.5 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 414.7 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 67.7 | 0.10 | 74% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Cambridge places 24th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 8 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 61.5 | 93.7 | B− |
| 22 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 68.4 | 61.3 | B− |
| 23 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury Ontario | 188,504 | 69.9 | 115.3 | C+ |
| 24 | Cambridge Ontario | 165,354 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 25 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 26 | Chatham Ontario | 112,716 | 72.1 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 27 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 73.9 | 72.6 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Cambridge in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Cambridge is part of, 711,500 residents, recorded about 9,930 violent incidents a year (2023–2025)
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Add about 22,500 property crimes and 6,020 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Cambridge
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | 165,354 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Pioneer Tower West | 4,122 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Doon South | 15,044 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Pioneer Park | 8,781 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Centreville Chicopee | 10,291 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Grand River South | 10,723 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Idlewood | 5,005 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
6 nearby places have no figure apart from this one: they share a police service.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- An index, not a verdict. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A wider service area. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Cambridge included.
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
Questions about safety in Cambridge
Is Cambridge safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Cambridge’s Crime Severity Index stands at 71.9 for 2023–2025. Its police record 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Cambridge?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 14.2, assault at 7.7 and fraud at 7.6, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Cambridge?
It went down 12% between 2023 and 2025, from 75.8 to 66.8.
How much of Cambridge’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 32% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 45% of violent crime and 25% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Cambridge and everywhere else it polices.
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).