Photo: Municipal Affairs and Housing · CC BY 2.0Oakville has less crime per resident than 94% of Canadian towns
Each of the 6 towns on its borders with figures records more crime per resident. Oakville’s Safety Grade is A, on crime the police covering Oakville reported from 2023 to 2025: #100 of 862 in Ontario. Violence accounts for an index of 28.3 and other offences for 32.8, against usual levels of 75.2 and 54.2. The local count comes to 3.6 violent incidents and 18.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 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. Area behind the crime severity, crime rate and incident counts figures: the Halton Region (Oakville/Burlington) service area.
What stands out about safety in Oakville
Under the Ontario norm
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Oakville scores 31.4. Towns its size ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Oakville is 1st of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Non-violent crime leads the index
Oakville’s index splits into violent crime, 28.3 here and 75.2 for the typical Canadian town its size, and everything else, 32.8 against 54.2. 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 Oakville’s A
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: #100 of 862 in Ontario and #134 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.
Oakville is 1st of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakville Ontario | 243,107 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 2 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 3 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| 4 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 34.5 | 57.5 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 9 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 10 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 11 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 148.2 | 134.8 | 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 Oakville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
What police record in Oakville, by type
Against the typical town its size, Oakville runs highest on motor vehicle theft (2.2 per 1,000 against 1.7). Mischief and assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 2 | 0.00 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 37.3 | 0.06 | 88% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 82.3 | 0.1 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 7.7 | 0.01 | 74% |
| Robbery | 130.7 | 0.2 | 68% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 22.7 | 0.04 | 98% |
| Other violent violations | 62.3 | 0.10 | 69% |
| Breaking and entering | 965 | 1.5 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 141 | 0.2 | 97% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,409 | 2.2 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 313.3 | 0.5 | 36% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 5,951 | 9.1 | 22% |
| Mischief | 948.3 | 1.4 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 93.7 | 0.1 | 86% |
| Administration of justice violations | 987.7 | 1.5 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 115.7 | 0.2 | 79% |
| Drug violations | 155.3 | 0.2 | 92% |
| Impaired driving | 439.3 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 92.7 | 0.1 | 21% |
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.
666,500 residents, about 2,380 violent incidents a year: the police area Oakville belongs to, 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.
And about 12,000 property crimes, plus 2,150 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Oakville’s index fell 5% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 32.3 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 30.6. 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 | Oakville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 30.6 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 31.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 32.3 | 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 Oakville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Oakville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakville | 243,107 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| Erin Mills | 39,194 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Sheridan | 15,775 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| South Common | 4,867 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Clarkson - Lorne Park | 39,523 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Churchill Meadows | 48,872 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
| Central Erin Mills | 36,393 | 56.2 | 75.6 | B |
Oakville has the lowest index of the places around it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- How serious, not how safe. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A regional police service. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Oakville included.
- Reading the number. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
- Solved cases. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
Questions about safety in Oakville
Is Oakville safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Oakville comes to 31.4. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 3.6 violent incidents and 18.3 property crimes. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Oakville?
The three biggest groups are theft under $5,000 at 9.1, fraud at 3.4 and motor vehicle theft at 2.2, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Oakville?
It went down 5% between 2023 and 2025, from 32.3 to 30.6.
How much of Oakville’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 39% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (38% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 68% of violent and 29% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Oakville 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) · 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).