Photo: Harleyd613 · CC BY 4.0For crime severity, Ottawa is much like the typical Canadian town its size
None of the 6 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Ottawa’s violent half comes to 66 and its non-violent half to 50.6, where the norm is 75.2 and 54.2. Typical years here bring 8.0 violent incidents plus 30.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 10.8 plus 25.1 in the typical town its size. The index fell from 55.8 in 2023 to 52.2 in 2025.
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 Ottawa
Near the Ontario middle
Ottawa’s index of 54.7 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. 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.
Before the grade: Ottawa’s figures
Grades for Canadian towns aren’t out yet. Until they are, the numbers stand on their own.
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.
Crime in Ottawa, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Ottawa runs highest on theft under $5,000 (16.9 per 1,000 against 11.5) and fraud (6 per 1,000 against 5). Mischief and sexual assault sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 20.3 | 0.02 | 77% |
| Sexual violations against children | 112.3 | 0.10 | 54% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 182.7 | 0.2 | 97% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 98.3 | 0.09 | 33% |
| Robbery | 576 | 0.5 | 45% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 72 | 0.06 | 72% |
| Other violent violations | 231.7 | 0.2 | 45% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,537 | 2.2 | 23% |
| Possession of stolen property | 149.7 | 0.1 | 76% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,875.7 | 1.6 | 9% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 421.7 | 0.4 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 19,538.7 | 16.9 | 14% |
| Mischief | 3,556.7 | 3.1 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 238 | 0.2 | 82% |
| Administration of justice violations | 5,803 | 5 | 93% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 542.3 | 0.5 | 52% |
| Drug violations | 457 | 0.4 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 673 | 0.6 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 31 | 0.03 | 38% |
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.
Ottawa, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 56; 2025 was lightest, at 52.2. The typical Canadian town its size went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Ottawa | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52.2 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 56 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 55.8 | 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 Ottawa, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Ottawa’s police: about 9,260 violent incidents a year over 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 35,200 property crimes, plus 8,410 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 across Ottawa, neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Ottawa’s neighbourhoods, lowest rate first
| # | Neighbourhood | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridlewood - Emerald Meadows | 2 | 8.1 |
| 2 | Kinburn | 2.1 | 7.3 |
| 3 | Rideaucrest - Davidson Heights | 2.2 | 10 |
| 4 | Munster - Ashton | 2.2 | 9.4 |
| 5 | Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgans Grant | 2.3 | 12.9 |
| … | |||
| 99 | Sandy Hill | 21.1 | 77.5 |
| 100 | Waterridge Village | 22.7 | 34.6 |
| 101 | Lowertown East | 24.3 | 189.6 |
| 102 | Greenbelt (east) | 24.5 | 47.5 |
| 103 | Lowertown West | 90.7 | 353.7 |
Ottawa Police Service, Criminal Offences Open Data (Open Data Licence – Ottawa Police Service), 2023–2025, placed in the neighbourhoods and divided by their 2021 census residents. Violent: offences against the person.
Ottawa’s own neighbourhood figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Crime in the places around Ottawa
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | 1,188,114 | 54.7 | 66 | — |
| Carleton Heights-Courtland Park | 8,621 | 54.7 | 66 | C+ |
| Borden Farm - Fisher Glen | 11,100 | 54.7 | 66 | A |
| Fisher Heights | 6,451 | 54.7 | 66 | C |
| Riverside Park - Mooneys Bay | 4,692 | 54.7 | 66 | A |
| Riverside Park South - Revelstoke | 3,030 | 54.7 | 66 | C− |
| Carlington | 16,354 | 54.7 | 66 | B− |
The places around Ottawa all score higher on the index.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The index’s scale. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Ottawa
Is Ottawa safe?
Against a typical 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more, Ottawa’s Crime Severity Index stands at 54.7 for 2023–2025. Its police record 8 violent incidents and 30.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Ottawa?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (16.9 per 1,000 residents a year); fraud, at 6, and other Criminal Code offences, at 5.9, follow.
Is crime going up in Ottawa?
The reverse: 55.8 in 2023 came down to 52.2 by 2025, 6% lower.
How much of Ottawa’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 32%: 49% for violent crime and 23% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Ottawa’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).