Overall crime, violent crime and property crime in Ottawa remain above provincial baselines, according to a new Ottawa Police Service report.
The
key performance indicator (KPI) report
, which was released ahead of Monday’s Ottawa Police Service Board meeting, noted that the increase was driven mainly by theft under $5,000, arson, auto theft and harassment-related offences.
Ottawa’s overall crime rate also increased to 4,494 incidents per 100,000 people in 2025, above the Ontario average, the report said.
The city’s Crime Severity Index, however, remained below the provincial average at 55.8. The OPS said fewer shootings and decreased hate-motivated crimes contributed to this statistic, but an increase in assaults continued to push it upward.
Preliminary 2025 crime statistics published by the OPS reported a one-per-cent increase in total crime, excluding traffic, over 2024 levels. Violent crimes also increased by three per cent during the same time period, while property crime increased by less than one per cent.
Overall, there was a 19-per-cent decrease in homicides year-over-year and a 27-per-cent decrease in shooting incidents year-over-year. There was also a seven-per-cent decrease in sexual violations and a 10-per-cent decrease in break-and-enters.
There was also a 21-per-cent decrease in hate-motivated crimes with around 358 such incidents reported to police in 2025. The OPS noted, however, that the actual number may be higher because hate-motivated incidents are often under-reported.
There were increases in robberies (15 per cent) and theft $5,000 and under (five per cent) between 2024 and 2025.
Intimate partner violence also increased by nine per cent year-over-year, with an average of 20 IPV-related calls made per day in the first six months of 2025, the OPS said. Most of the calls were made by women (81 per cent) and the largest segment of callers were between 30 and 45 years old (50 per cent).
Ottawa has had slight increases to the overall crime rate for several years, fueled by a growing population and the rising cost of living.
Ottawa Police Service Chief Eric Stubbs
previously told the Ottawa Citizen that the growing vulnerable population, social disorder and open drug use in the downtown core had overwhelmed social agencies that help manage those vulnerable communities.
“People aren’t feeling as safe as they used to with some of the social disorder and the open drug use and whatnot,” Stubbs said during a year-end interview.
Response times below threshold
The KPI report also highlighted slower response times overall by the OPS due to increased service demands and operational pressures.
Officers arrived at the scene within 15 minutes for Priority 1 calls 94 per cent of the time, a statistic that has remained consistent over the past five years, police said.
However, officers arrived at the scene within 15 minutes for Priority 2 calls 75 per cent of the time, which was below target.
Performance for Priority 3 calls also remained below target, with officers arriving at the scenes within 30 minutes 66 per cent of the time.
Officers arrived at the scene within 120 minutes for Priority 4 calls around 77 per cent of the time, which was below target, but consistent with performance levels over the past three years.
In his year-end interview, Stubbs said increased mental-health calls and demonstrations, along with staffing shortages, had strained Ottawa police operations.
“Unfortunately, we have a lot of gaps to fill and a lot of people from the community want our presence. There is a multi-year effort to try to get our force to the right size in relation to our population size. Being in the capital of Canada, it comes with demonstrations, diplomatic work and major events and whatnot,” he said.
“We are embarking on a long-term future forecasting exercise with not only our police board, but with city hall as well to see what the next four years might look like.”
Public satisfaction and trust plummet
The KPI report also indicated that the perceived level of satisfaction the public had with Ottawa police plummeted to 57 per cent in 2025, returning to 2023 levels and below OPS’ long-term objective of 80 per cent.
Public trust towards OPS also sat at 48 per cent, slightly below the 52-per-cent target. Suburban wards reported higher confidence levels, the police said, while rural and central urban wards reported lower results.
The report said operational challenges affecting response times for priority calls and ongoing community expectations for increased police visibility had affected public trust towards the police. This was especially true for suburban and rural areas, the report added.
The police also wrote that trust in the OPS also correlated to trust in the overall criminal justice system, resulting in a need for local and community-specific initiatives to engage community members.
Community advocates and activists have been
criticizing the boost in the 2026 OPS budget for months
, arguing the funding should instead be allocated to mental health initiatives and affordable housing.
The Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program is one such program that should receive more funding, Sam Hersh of the advocacy group Horizon Ottawa said during an Ottawa Police Service Board meeting on Nov. 21.
“The police budget frames mental health calls as a major driver of workload and therefore uses them to justify increased spending,” Hersh said.
Stubbs has repeatedly said he supports more funding for mental-health initiatives, but not at the expense of the policing budget.
“The overwhelming majority of our citizens want to see us more. They want us more in their communities. The feedback we got about the budget was very positive,” Stubbs said during his year-end interview.
“I’ve said this ad nauseam, to be quite frank, that I support mental-health alternatives. I support social agencies that are trying to help people who need help, but not at the expense of our budget.”
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