Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Pickering has less crime per resident than three in four Canadian towns
On the record of crime the police covering Pickering reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes A− for safety: #234 of 862 in Ontario. None of the 5 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Police counts work out at 7.9 violent incidents and 20.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 10.8 and 25.1. Split in two, the index gives 61.4 for violence and 39.9 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. Shared with the rest of the Durham Region (Oshawa/Whitby/Ajax) service area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Pickering
Lower than many towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Pickering is 10th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Near the Ontario middle
Set among Ontario’s towns, whose median is 56.2, Pickering scores 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.
What’s behind Pickering’s grade
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.
Pickering is 10th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 28.1 | 48.2 | A+ |
| 2 | Lindsay Ontario | 85,351 | 31.7 | 42.8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Bolton Ontario | 90,201 | 39.2 | 51 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 44 | 56.2 | A− |
| 8 | Airdrie Alberta | 92,544 | 44.3 | 48.7 | A− |
| 9 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 10 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 11 | Bowmanville Ontario | 114,180 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 12 | Newmarket Ontario | 95,763 | 52.8 | 67.4 | B+ |
| 13 | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Quebec | 100,806 | 53.1 | 81 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | St. Catharines Ontario | 153,865 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| 17 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 56.1 | 72.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 209.1 | 239.6 | 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 Pickering in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
What police record in Pickering, 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.
From 2023 to 2025, Pickering’s index dropped 8%
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (47.2) and 2025 the trough (43.2). 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 | Pickering | 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 Pickering, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Pickering 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.
Property crime adds about 16,100 a year and other violations 7,580 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Pickering
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering | 118,378 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| West Rouge | 20,915 | 66 | 92.6 | A− |
| Ajax | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| Centennial Scarborough | 13,453 | 66 | 92.6 | A |
| Highland Creek | 12,678 | 66 | 92.6 | B+ |
| Morningside Heights | 24,972 | 66 | 92.6 | B |
| Malvern East | 26,113 | 66 | 92.6 | A− |
The places around Pickering all score higher on the index. Same police, same number: one neighbour drops out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- An index, not a verdict. 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 wider service area. A regional or shared police service reports one set of figures for every municipality it covers, Pickering included.
- The index’s scale. 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.
Questions about safety in Pickering
Is Pickering safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 45.8 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more: that is where Pickering stands, with 7.9 violent and 20.4 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Pickering?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 9.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 7.3 and fraud at 4.6.
Is crime going up in Pickering?
No: the index fell 8%, from 47 in 2023 to 43.2 in 2025.
How much of Pickering’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 42% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 55% of violent crime and 35% of the rest, against 38% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Pickering and everywhere else it polices.
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).