Photo: Municipal Affairs and Housing · CC BY 2.0Crime in Kitchener scores 19% higher than in the typical Canadian town its size
Violence and property crime split as 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 10.8 and 25.1 in the typical town its size. Behind crime severity, crime rate and incident counts sits data gathered across the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area, with Kitchener one part of it. The index fell from 75.8 in 2023 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).
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.
What stands out about safety in Kitchener
Over the Ontario norm
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Kitchener, 71.9. Towns its size ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Kitchener 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.
Before the grade: Kitchener’s figures
No grade yet for this town: Canadian grades are set in a single national run that is still to come.
Crime Severity Index
Violent crime index
Non-violent crime index
Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, 2023–2025 means. City neighbourhoods count, each with its city’s figure; city totals and reserves don’t.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Kitchener, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 75.8, against a low of 66.8 in 2025. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Kitchener | 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 Kitchener, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Kitchener, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Kitchener 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.
Around 9,930 violent incidents a year in the 711,500-resident police area around Kitchener, 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 Kitchener
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchener | 323,917 | 71.9 | 89.7 | — |
| Southdale | 5,277 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Alpine | 3,055 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Mill Courtland Woodside Park | 3,319 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Cedar Hill | 3,190 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Laurentian Hills | 10,026 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside | 5,007 | 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
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- 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. 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.”
- A wider service area. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Kitchener included.
Questions about safety in Kitchener
Is Kitchener safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Kitchener scores 71.9 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 14.2 violent and 32.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, the median is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Kitchener?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (14.2 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 7.7, and fraud, at 7.6, follow.
Is crime going up in Kitchener?
It went down 12% between 2023 and 2025, from 75.8 to 66.8.
How much of Kitchener’s crime do police solve?
About 32% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 45% of violent and 25% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Kitchener together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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). 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).