Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Oshawa has less crime per resident than 75% of Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 61.4 for violence and 39.9 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). Scored on crime the police covering Oshawa reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on A− for safety: #234 of 862 in Ontario. Its police logs show 7.9 violent incidents and 20.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 10.8 and 25.1.
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. The crime severity, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Durham Region (Oshawa/Whitby/Ajax) service area.
What stands out about safety in Oshawa
A lower index than most towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Oshawa comes 8th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Close to Ontario’s typical town
The typical Ontario town scores 56.2; Oshawa, 45.8. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Oshawa: A− for safety, and why
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: #234 of 862 in Ontario and #432 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Oshawa places 8th
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 40.5 | 49.7 | A− |
| 6 | Terrebonne Quebec | 126,872 | 41.6 | 72.5 | A− |
| 7 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 44 | 56.2 | 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− |
| 12 | Bowmanville Ontario | 114,180 | 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 Oshawa in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in Oshawa, type by type
Mischief and break and enter sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 10.7 | 0.01 | 78% |
| Sexual violations against children | 118.7 | 0.2 | 61% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 92.7 | 0.1 | 100% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 68.3 | 0.09 | 41% |
| Robbery | 303 | 0.4 | 49% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 24 | 0.03 | 75% |
| Other violent violations | 106.3 | 0.1 | 53% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,113.7 | 1.4 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 152.3 | 0.2 | 89% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,359.7 | 1.7 | 10% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 256.3 | 0.3 | 19% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 7,521.7 | 9.5 | 24% |
| Mischief | 2,015.3 | 2.6 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 122.3 | 0.2 | 88% |
| Administration of justice violations | 5,130.7 | 6.5 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 249.3 | 0.3 | 69% |
| Drug violations | 551.7 | 0.7 | 93% |
| Impaired driving | 813.3 | 1 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 153 | 0.2 | 18% |
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.
Year by year in Oshawa: down 8%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 47.2; 2025 was lightest, at 43.2. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 64.3 (2023), then 59.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Oshawa | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 47.2 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 47 | 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 Oshawa, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Oshawa is part of, 810,100 residents, recorded about 6,230 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.
And about 16,100 property crimes, plus 7,580 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Oshawa
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oshawa | 213,592 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| Whitby | 162,413 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| Bowmanville | 114,180 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| Ajax | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
Its police also cover 3 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
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- One service, several municipalities. The service that polices Oshawa reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
- What 100 means. 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.
Questions about safety in Oshawa
Is Oshawa safe?
With 7.9 violent incidents and 20.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Oshawa comes to 45.8 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Oshawa?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (9.5 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 7.3, and fraud, at 4.6, follow.
Is crime going up in Oshawa?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 8%, to 43.2 from 47.
How much of Oshawa’s crime do police solve?
Counting serious crimes for more, 42% end in a charge or are otherwise solved (38% for the typical Canadian town its size); split up, that is 55% of violent and 35% of non-violent crime.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Oshawa 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).