Photo: Laslovarga · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterdown is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Its letter overall is B− (#519 of 862 in Ontario): close to the middle of Canadian towns, from crime its police reported through 2023 to 2025. What’s more, the local count comes to 11.7 violent incidents and 31.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+. Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure fell, 68.2 to 62.2. Split in two, the index gives 85.7 for violence and 58.2 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2).
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. Not measured by town: crime severity and crime rate (the Hamilton service area).
The grade: B− for Waterdown
How sure: Less sure, since one city-wide figure stands behind it, and Waterdown can differ a long way from its city’s average.
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: #519 of 862 in Ontario and #1,018 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.
Crime across Hamilton, by type
These are Hamilton’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Hamilton runs highest on motor vehicle theft (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.7), robbery (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4) and drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.9).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 10 | 0.02 | 83% |
| Sexual violations against children | 95 | 0.2 | 55% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 122.3 | 0.2 | 95% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 77.3 | 0.1 | 45% |
| Robbery | 380.7 | 0.6 | 36% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 37 | 0.06 | 83% |
| Other violent violations | 117.7 | 0.2 | 50% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,695 | 2.7 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 237.3 | 0.4 | 88% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,925.7 | 3.1 | 6% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 283.3 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,419.7 | 15 | 7% |
| Mischief | 2,898.7 | 4.6 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 192 | 0.3 | 76% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,806.3 | 4.5 | 93% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 216.7 | 0.3 | 46% |
| Drug violations | 821.7 | 1.3 | 73% |
| Impaired driving | 397 | 0.6 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 11.3 | 0.02 | 71% |
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.
Waterdown, year by year
Crime Severity Index
From 68.2 in 2023, its first and heaviest year, it eased to a low of 62.2 in 2025. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Waterdown | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 62.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 66.7 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 68.2 | 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 Waterdown, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Waterdown
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterdown | 23,858 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| York Road | 4,931 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Burlington | 197,737 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| North End East | 4,816 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Colborne | 7,447 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Strathcona | 9,348 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
| Central | 3,698 | 65.7 | 85.7 | B− |
The comparison skips 5 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- An index, not a verdict. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Not the neighbourhood’s own. The figures for Waterdown are city-wide: neighbourhood counts aren’t published as open data here.
- The index’s scale. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
Questions about safety in Waterdown
Is Waterdown safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 65.7 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more: that is where Waterdown stands, with 11.7 violent and 31.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Waterdown?
Police record theft under $5,000 most, 15 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (6.7) and other Criminal Code offences (5.2).
Is crime going up in Waterdown?
The reverse: 68.2 in 2023 came down to 62.2 by 2025, 9% lower.
How much of Waterdown’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 34% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 50% of violent crime and 24% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Whose figures are these?
The city police’s, as reported for the whole 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).