Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterloo sits near the middle of Canadian towns for recorded crime
Split in two, the index gives 89.7 for violence and 65.4 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2). In 2023 the index stood at 75.8; it fell to 66.8 in 2025. Even so, its Safety Grade, C+ (#680 of 862 in Ontario), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. For every 1,000 residents, 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the typical town its size, the figures 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. Measured across the Waterloo Region (Kitchener) service area: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Waterloo
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Waterloo places 24th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Ontario’s middle
Waterloo’s index of 71.9 compares with 56.2 for the typical town in Ontario. Towns its size ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Waterloo records 7.7 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Waterloo: C+ 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: #680 of 862 in Ontario and #1,466 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.
Waterloo, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 75.8, against a low of 66.8 in 2025. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 64.3 and 2025 gave 59.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Waterloo | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.8 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 73.1 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 75.8 | 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 Waterloo, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in Waterloo, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Waterloo runs highest on assault (7.7 per 1,000 against 4.9), fraud (7.6 per 1,000 against 5) and robbery (0.5 per 1,000 against 0.4). Drug offences sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 227.7 | 0.3 | 39% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 143.3 | 0.2 | 98% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 69 | 0.10 | 52% |
| Robbery | 362.3 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 120.3 | 0.2 | 69% |
| Other violent violations | 165.7 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Breaking and entering | 2,068.3 | 3 | 22% |
| Possession of stolen property | 715 | 1 | 30% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 1,197 | 1.7 | 13% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 290.7 | 0.4 | 11% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 9,915.7 | 14.2 | 18% |
| Mischief | 2,902.3 | 4.2 | 21% |
| Weapons violations | 339 | 0.5 | 53% |
| Administration of justice violations | 3,165.7 | 4.5 | 90% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 741.7 | 1.1 | 32% |
| Drug violations | 374.7 | 0.5 | 90% |
| Impaired driving | 414.7 | 0.6 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 67.7 | 0.10 | 74% |
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.
By its index, Waterloo stands 24th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 31.4 | 28.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 8 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| 9 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 45.8 | 61.4 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 68.4 | 61.3 | B− |
| 22 | Peterborough Ontario | 97,834 | 71.7 | 89.4 | C+ |
| 23 | Cambridge Ontario | 165,354 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 24 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| 25 | Chatham Ontario | 112,716 | 72.1 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 26 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 73.9 | 72.6 | C+ |
| 27 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 78.7 | 101.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Victoria British Columbia | 103,888 | 161.3 | 160.1 | 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 Waterloo in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Waterloo is part of, 711,500 residents, recorded about 9,930 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 22,500 property crimes, plus 6,020 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 Waterloo
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 142,450 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Westmount | 5,048 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Cherry Hill | 6,304 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park | 5,174 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Fairfield | 3,497 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Victoria Hills | 10,760 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
| Victoria Park | 3,574 | 71.9 | 89.7 | C+ |
The table leaves out 6 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Shared policing. Waterloo is policed by a service that covers other municipalities too, and Statistics Canada reports the service as a whole.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- What the index measures. 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.”
Questions about safety in Waterloo
Is Waterloo safe?
Waterloo measures 71.9 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, next to 60.3 for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, its police record 14.2 violent incidents and 32.2 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Waterloo?
Most often it is theft under $5,000: 14.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 7.7 and fraud at 7.6.
Is crime going up in Waterloo?
Down 12%: 75.8 in 2023, 66.8 in 2025.
How much of Waterloo’s crime do police solve?
About 32% of crime is cleared, weighted by seriousness, with 45% of violent and 25% of other crime; the figure for the typical Canadian town its size is 38%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Waterloo and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).