How many mischief incidents are there in Ottawa?
Ottawa, ON recorded 3,579 mischief incidents in 2025, the most recent complete year — a rate of 351.8 per 100,000 residents.
Wilful damage to property. Ottawa residents also search for this category as vandalism, property damage and graffiti — all of those refer to the same police-reported offences counted on this page.
These figures cover 17,863 mischief incidents recorded in Ottawa between September 2021 and September 2026 — every incident Ottawa Police Service Community Safety Data Portal has published in that window. The first year is partial — incidents past the retention window are removed, so the record starts part-way through 2021 rather than on January 1.
Ottawa mischief incidents by year, 2021–2026
Ottawa mischief incidents peaked in 2023 with 3,717. The complete years here are 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 — those are the ones directly comparable to each other. Pick a year for its own monthly breakdown, time-of-day pattern and areas.
* Partial year — not directly comparable to the complete years above.
What time of day do mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Across the whole period, Ottawa mischief incidents cluster in the evening (6pm–12am) window, which accounts for 35% of them. The busiest individual hour is 10pm.
Hover a bar for the exact count in that hour.
What day of the week do mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Friday is the most common day for mischief incidents in Ottawa, at 17% of the total — 16% above what an even split across the week would give.
What time of year do mischief incidents peak in Ottawa?
Every year stacked together, so this is seasonality rather than a trend. October is the busiest month for mischief incidents in Ottawa with 1,757 across the whole period, and January is the quietest with 1,117.
Where do mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Centretown records the most mischief incidents of any area in Ottawa, with 1,603 — 9% of the city total across the whole period.
Ottawa mischief incidents: common questions
How many mischief incidents are there in Ottawa?
Ottawa, ON recorded 3,579 mischief incidents in 2025, the most recent complete year — a rate of 351.8 per 100,000 residents. These figures cover 17,863 mischief incidents recorded in Ottawa between September 2021 and September 2026 — every incident Ottawa Police Service Community Safety Data Portal has published in that window.
Are mischief incidents going up or down in Ottawa?
Ottawa mischief incidents peaked in 2023 with 3,717. The most recent figure is 2,489 in 2026 so far, which covers a partial year. The complete years in this data are 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, which are the ones directly comparable to each other.
What time of day do most mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Most Ottawa mischief incidents happen in the evening (6pm–12am) window, which accounts for 35% of all of them. The busiest individual hour is 10pm.
Where do most mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Centretown records the most mischief incidents of any area in Ottawa, with 1,603 (9% of the city total), followed by Sandy Hill (1,036) and Byward Market (759).
What day of the week do most mischief incidents happen in Ottawa?
Friday is the most common day for mischief incidents in Ottawa, accounting for 17% of them — 16% above an even split across the week.
What time of year do mischief incidents peak in Ottawa?
Adding every year together, October is the busiest month for mischief incidents in Ottawa (1,757 across the whole period) and January is the quietest (1,117).
How common are mischief incidents compared to other crime in Ottawa?
Mischief makes up 10.7% of all crime recorded in Ottawa over this period — 17,863 of 167,564 incidents.
What is the mischief incident rate in Ottawa?
Ottawa recorded 351.8 mischief incidents per 100,000 residents in 2025, based on a population of 1,017,449. Rates are only calculated for complete years, since a partial year isn't comparable.
What period does this Ottawa mischief incident data cover?
These figures cover 17,863 mischief incidents recorded in Ottawa between September 2021 and September 2026 — every incident Ottawa Police Service Community Safety Data Portal has published in that window. The earliest year is partial because incidents older than the retention window are removed, so it starts part-way through the year rather than on January 1. Counts reflect what the portal published — a category a service doesn't publish is missing, which is not the same as zero.
Sourced from Ottawa Police Service Community Safety Data Portal. Counts reflect incidents the portal published and may differ from figures released elsewhere — missing is not the same as zero.