Photo: Jason F. Voll · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairfield is about average among Canadian towns for recorded crime
Against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2, violent and non-violent offences here reach 89.7 and 65.4. Weighing it all, Fairfield earns C+ for safety (#680 of 862 in Ontario), with close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported over 2023 to 2025. By contrast, by 2025 the index had dropped to 66.8, down from 75.8 in 2023. Year on year, 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
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 and crime rate: the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area.
The C+ for Fairfield, and how it is built
How sure: Less sure than most. The grade rests on a figure for the whole city, so Fairfield’s own streets could sit well above or below it.
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.
Fairfield, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 75.8, against a low of 66.8 in 2025. In the same years the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Fairfield | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Fairfield, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
What Waterloo Region (Kitchener)’s police record, by type
These are Waterloo Region (Kitchener)’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Waterloo Region (Kitchener) runs highest on assault (7.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5) and break and enter (3 per 1,000 against 2.2).
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 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.
Crime in the places around Fairfield
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | 3,497 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Central Frederick | 5,895 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Bridgeport East | 3,903 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| City Commercial Core | 2,581 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Cherry Hill | 6,304 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Auditorium | 3,918 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
Its police also cover 6 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- One figure for the city. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Fairfield carries the city-wide figures.
Questions about safety in Fairfield
Is Fairfield safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Fairfield comes to 71.9. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes. Set that beside 60.3, the median for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
What is the most common crime in Fairfield?
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 Fairfield?
No: the index fell 12%, from 75.8 in 2023 to 66.8 in 2025.
How much of Fairfield’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 of 50,000+.
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).