Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in West Centretown than in 80% of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada puts its Crime Severity Index at 54.7 for 2023–2025; the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ scores 60.3. Its Safety Grade is C−, on crime the police covering West Centretown reported from 2023 to 2025: #813 of 862 in Ontario. The rate of property crime is 56.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 20.6 in the typical Ottawa neighbourhood. 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. Source area for crime severity and crime rate: the Ottawa service area.
What sits behind West Centretown’s C−
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: #813 of 862 in Ontario and #1,949 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.
Where West Centretown sits within Ottawa
Violent crime per 1,000 a year
Property crime per 1,000 a year
Ranked from the lowest rate, West Centretown is 96th of Ottawa’s 103 neighbourhoods, past the middle.
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 |
| … | |||
| 94 | Overbrook | 15.1 | 55.8 |
| 95 | Vanier North | 15.6 | 62.2 |
| 96 | West Centretown | 17.7 | 56.7 |
| 97 | Vanier South | 18.4 | 128.5 |
| 98 | Centretown | 20.6 | 95.4 |
| 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 across Ottawa, by type
These are Ottawa’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
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 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.
West Centretown, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 56; 2025 was the lightest, at 52.2. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ went from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | West Centretown | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 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 West Centretown, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around West Centretown
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Centretown | 8,560 | 54.7 | 66 | C− |
| Centretown | 32,035 | 54.7 | 66 | D |
| Hintonburg-Mechanicsville | 10,966 | 54.7 | 66 | C |
| Glebe-Dows Lake | 13,436 | 54.7 | 66 | C− |
| Civic Hospital | 6,091 | 54.7 | 66 | B− |
| Island Park-Wellington Village | 5,486 | 54.7 | 66 | A− |
| Old Ottawa East | 8,308 | 54.7 | 66 | A |
6 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada builds the index from every crime police record, weighted by how seriously the courts treat it, and divides by the population. It adds a warning of its own: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
Questions about safety in West Centretown
Is West Centretown safe?
West Centretown’s Crime Severity Index is 54.7 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 8 violent incidents and 30.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. The middle of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more is 60.3.
What is the most common crime in West Centretown?
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 West Centretown?
No: the index fell 6%, from 55.8 in 2023 to 52.2 in 2025.
How much of West Centretown’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 32% of crime (49% of violent crime, 23% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 50,000+ clears 38%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police service that covers the whole 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) · Ottawa Police Service, Criminal Offences Open Data · 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).