Safe Cities profile series: Key indicators by census metropolitan area
London, Ontario

Release date: May 15, 2020
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Satisfaction with safety

London 87%, Ontario 89%, Canada 88%

proportion of people who reported being satisfied with their personal safety from crime in 2014

* significantly different from London (p < 0.05)

Police-reported violent crime rate in 2018

London 874, Ontario 899, Canada 1,143

rate per 100,000 population

Ten-year change in police-reported crime rate (2008 to 2018)

London -14%, Ontario -16%, Canada, -17%

Population and demographics

Map showing the location of London, Ontario

London, Ontario

London was home to 532,984 people in 2018, and it had a population density of 200 residents per square kilometre. Three in ten (30%) residents were aged 24 and younger, on par with the distribution in Ontario (29%) and across Canada (28%).

About 2.5% of London residents were part of the Indigenous population (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) in 2016, similar to Ontario (2.8%) but lower than Canada (4.9%). Immigrants represented about one in five (19%) residents, lower than Ontario (29%) but closer to Canada (22%). About one in eight (13%) immigrants in London were recent immigrants (since 2011), similar to Ontario (12%) but lower than Canada (16%). The proportion of people who identified as a visible minority in London (16%) was notably lower than Ontario (29%) but closer to Canada overall (22%).

Education, employment and income

In 2016, around two in three (65%) London residents aged 25 to 64 had completed some form of postsecondary education, one in four (25%) had completed high school (or equivalent) as their highest level of education, and one in ten (10%) had completed neither.

In 2018, the unemployment rate in London (5.6%) was on par with Ontario (5.6%) and Canada’s provinces (5.8%). Households in London earned a median after-tax annual income of $51,940 in 2017, similar to in Ontario ($53,850) and Canada ($52,090). The percentage of families considered low-income was the same in London (17%), Ontario (17%) and Canada (17%).

Housing and families

On average, there were 2.4 persons per household in London in 2016, similar to Ontario (2.6) and Canada (2.4). Just under two in three (64%) households in London owned their homes, lower than Ontario (70%) and Canada (68%). When a household spends 30% or more of its income on shelter costs, it is considered to live in unaffordable housing: this was the case for one in four (26%) London households, similar to Ontario (28%) and Canada (24%). A small proportion (5.9%) of occupied private dwellings in London were in need of major repairs, similar to Ontario (6.1%) and Canada (6.5%). Just under one-fifth (18%) of London families were lone-parent families, similar to Ontario (17%) and Canada (16%). In 2018, there were an estimated 406 homeless individuals living in London.

Community safety and sense of belonging

Self-reported experiences of victimization

Police-reported crime

  • In 2018, London police reported an overall crime rate of 5,963 incidents per 100,000 population, 45% higher than in Ontario (4,113) and 9% higher than in Canada (5,488).
  • Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), police-reported crime declined by 14% in London, close to the decline seen in Ontario (-16%) and Canada (-17%).
  • The severity of crime in London increased by 7% between 2017 and 2018, mostly due to an increase in breaking and entering, fraud and theft of $5,000 or under (non-shoplifting). Over the past decade (2008 to 2018), the severity of crime in London declined by 10%, compared with a 15% decline in Ontario and a 17% decline in Canada.

Property crime

Violent crime

  • In 2018, there were 874 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 population reported by police in London, 3% lower than Ontario (899) and 24% lower than Canada overall (1,143)
    • In London, just over half (54%) of victims of violent crime were female, similar to Ontario (53%) and Canada (53%).
  • Between 2008 and 2018:
    • The violent crime rate in London declined by 12%, similar to the decline seen in Ontario (-14%) and Canada (-14%).
    • The severity of violent crime in London declined by 4%, which was smaller than the decline in Ontario (-11%) and Canada (-13%).
  • Violent crime against girls and women in London saw a much smaller decline between 2009 and 2018 than violent crime against boys and men (-8% versus -19%).

Hate crime

Intimate partner violence

Homicide

Charts and tables

Chart 1 start

Chart 1 Police-reported violent and non-violent Crime Severity Indexes, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 1998 to 2018

Data table for Chart 1 
Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Violent Crime Severity Index, Non-violent Crime Severity Index, London, Ontario and Canada, calculated using index units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Violent Crime Severity Index Non-violent Crime Severity Index
London Ontario Canada London Ontario Canada
index
1998 64 85 98 123 107 127
1999 71 83 99 124 96 116
2000 71 85 98 125 91 110
2001 70 85 97 114 87 108
2002 66 82 96 113 85 107
2003 67 81 98 110 84 110
2004 71 79 96 98 78 107
2005 76 83 99 100 74 102
2006 82 87 100 110 75 100
2007 69 86 98 97 70 94
2008 65 82 95 92 67 89
2009 70 82 94 95 64 85
2010 75 78 89 87 61 81
2011 72 73 86 83 57 75
2012 65 70 82 79 55 73
2013 58 62 74 71 49 67
2014 47 58 71 73 47 65
2015 57 60 75 69 48 68
2016 60 65 77 71 49 70
2017 62 70 81 74 51 71
2018 63 73 82 81 55 72

Chart 1 end

Chart 2 start

Chart 2 Police-reported violent crime, by sex of victim, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 2009 to 2018

Data table for Chart 2 
Data table for Chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 2. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Female victims, Male victims, London, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Female victims Male victims
London Ontario Canada London Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 898 937 1,206 899 940 1,202
2010 931 917 1,209 855 913 1,162
2011 869 872 1,124 785 859 1,087
2012 775 824 1,079 736 809 1,048
2013 736 771 1,004 665 726 947
2014 658 721 952 646 675 898
2015 724 729 970 651 687 914
2016 724 741 978 701 708 910
2017 769 790 1,019 713 739 926
2018 823 834 1,048 728 766 936

Chart 2 end

Chart 3 start

Chart 3 Police-reported property crime, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 2009 to 2018

Data table for Chart 3 
Data table for Chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 3. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), London, Ontario and Canada, calculated using rate per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year London Ontario Canada
rate per 100,000 population
2009 4,925 3,193 4,122
2010 4,220 2,968 3,838
2011 3,865 2,760 3,536
2012 3,680 2,648 3,438
2013 3,361 2,365 3,154
2014 3,579 2,281 3,100
2015 3,431 2,290 3,231
2016 3,629 2,315 3,239
2017 3,844 2,428 3,266
2018 4,198 2,621 3,339

Chart 3 end

Table 1 start


Table 1
Police-reported crime rate for selected offences, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime rate for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), London, Ontario, Canada, Percent difference between London and Ontario and Percent difference between London and Canada, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence London Ontario Canada Percent difference between London and Ontario Percent difference between London and Canada
rate
Total crime (excluding traffic) 5,963 4,113 5,488 45 9
Total violent crime 874 899 1,143 -3 -24
Violations causing death and attempted murder 2 5 4 -57 -52
Sexual assault and sexual violations against childrenTable 1 Note 1 95 91 101 5 -6
AssaultsTable 1 Note 2 524 500 649 5 -19
Other violent offences 253 303 389 -16 -35
Total property crime 4,198 2,621 3,339 60 26
Breaking and entering 456 319 431 43 6
TheftTable 1 Note 3 2,514 1,506 1,720 67 46
Fraud 511 381 402 34 27
MischiefTable 1 Note 4 638 372 699 72 -9
Other property crime offences 80 43 86 84 -7
Total other Criminal Code offences 890 593 1,006 50 -12
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 332 199 339 67 -2
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 5 71 92 178 -23 -60
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 6 15 6 12 134 22
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 1 Note 7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.4 -17
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 1 Note 7 0 0.4 0.3 -100 -100
Other Criminal Code traffic offences 246 99 148 148 66
Total drug offences 167 146 225 15 -26
Total other federal statute offences 7 29 70 -74 -89
Total all offences 6,470 4,487 6,123 44 6

Table 1 end

Table 2 start


Table 2
Police-reported violent crime rate for selected offences, by sex of victim, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported violent crime rate for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), London, Ontario, Canada, Female victims and Male victims, calculated using rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence London Ontario Canada
Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims Female victims Male victims
rate
Total violent crime 823 728 834 766 1,048 936
Violations causing death and attempted murder 0.7 3 3 7 2 6
Homicide 0.4 2 1 3 0.9 3
Other violations causing deathTable 2 Note 1 0 0 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3
Attempted murder 0.4 2 1 4 1 3
Sexual offences 165 20 152 22 170 23
Sexual assault 145 16 130 17 134 16
Sexual assault – level 3 – aggravated 0 0 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.1
Sexual assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 1 0.4 2 0.5 2 0.4
Sexual assault – level 1 144 16 128 17 131 16
Sexual violations against childrenTable 2 Note 2 20 4 22 5 36 7
Assaults 500 547 467 510 613 644
Physical assault 487 490 456 463 599 590
Assault – level 3 – aggravated 2 10 4 10 6 13
Assault – level 2 – weapon or bodily harm 102 151 83 126 111 173
Assault – level 1 383 328 369 327 483 404
Assault against a peace officer 11 54 7 37 10 48
Other assaults 2 3 4 10 4 7
Other violent offences 157 158 213 227 263 262
Firearms – use of, discharge, pointing 0.7 1 2 6 2 6
Robbery 21 64 27 83 31 75
Forcible confinement or kidnapping 16 3 12 2 15 3
Trafficking in personsTable 2 Note 3 3 0 2 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value. 1 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value.
Extortion 2 3 4 7 6 9
Criminal harassment 36 10 52 16 53 17
Uttering threats 66 75 85 102 114 134
Indecent or harassing communications 1 0.4 16 8 22 9
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images 4 0.4 5 0.8 7 1
Commodification of sexual activityTable 2 Note 4 0.4 0 0.6 0sNote: value rounded to 0 (zero) where there is a meaningful distinction between true zero and the value that was rounded. A “0” represents a true zero value. 1 0.1
Other violent offences 7 0.8 6 3 10 8
Total traffic offences 4 3 2 3 16 21
Traffic violations causing death 0 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.4 0.9
Traffic violations causing bodily harm 4 3 2 3 6 7
Traffic violations – injury unspecified or unknownTable 2 Note 5 0 0 0.1 0 9 12

Table 2 end

Table 3 start


Table 3
Police-reported crime for selected offences, census metropolitan area of London, Ontario and Canada, 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime for selected offences. The information is grouped by Type of offence (appearing as row headers), London, Ontario and Canada, calculated using number and rate units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Type of offence London Ontario Canada
number rate number rate number rate
Total non-violent crime 29,931 5,595 513,941 3,588 1,845,269 4,979
Total property crime 22,459 4,198 375,402 2,621 1,237,324 3,339
Breaking and entering 2,439 456 45,736 319 159,812 431
Possess stolen propertyTable 3 Note 1 334 62 4,854 34 23,898 64
Theft of motor vehicle 1,618 302 23,952 167 86,132 232
Theft over $5,000 (non-motor vehicle) 328 61 5,887 41 20,113 54
Theft of $5,000 or under (non-motor vehicle) 11,502 2,150 185,837 1,297 531,312 1,434
Fraud 2,433 455 49,193 343 129,409 349
Identity theft 9 2 426 3 3,745 10
Identity fraud 290 54 4,907 34 15,839 43
MischiefTable 3 Note 2 3,412 638 53,236 372 259,064 699
Arson 94 18 1,374 10 8,000 22
Total other offences 4,759 890 84,959 593 372,834 1,006
Weapons violations 255 48 4,415 31 16,610 45
Child pornographyTable 3 Note 3 52 10 1,669 12 5,843 16
ProstitutionTable 3 Note 4 0 0 29 0.2 110 0.3
Terrorism 2 0.4 58 0.4 102 0.3
Disturb the peace 404 76 5,075 35 94,378 255
Administration of justice offences 3,431 641 66,876 467 226,864 612
Other offences 615 115 6,837 48 28,927 78
Total Criminal Code traffic offences 1,777 332 28,446 199 125,544 339
Total alcohol-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 5 379 71 13,216 92 65,820 178
Total drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 6 78 15 894 6 4,429 12
Alcohol and drug-impaired drivingTable 3 Note 7 3 0.6 80 0.6 250 0.7
Impaired driving (not specified)Table 3 Note 7 0 0 55 0.4 94 0.3
Other Criminal Code traffic offences 1,317 246 14,201 99 54,951 148
Total drug offences 896 167 20,937 146 83,483 225
Total other federal statute offences 40 7 4,197 29 26,084 70
Human traffickingTable 3 Note 8 0 0 94 0.7 112 0.3
Youth Criminal Justice Act 13 2 1,076 8 4,823 13
Other federal statute offences 27 5 3,027 21 21,149 57

Table 3 end

Table 4 start


Table 4
Police-reported crime rate, census metropolitan area of London, 2008 to 2018
Table summary
This table displays the results of Police-reported crime rate. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Violent crime, Property crime and Total crime, calculated using number, rate and percent change in rate from previous year units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Violent crime Property crime Total crime
number rate percent change in rate from previous year number rate percent change in rate from previous year number rate percent change in rate from previous year
2008 4,787 990 -1 23,206 4,801 -1 33,410 6,912 -3
2009 4,697 968 -2 23,896 4,925 3 33,456 6,895 -0.3
2010 5,005 1,024 6 20,620 4,220 -14 30,791 6,302 -9
2011 4,752 967 -6 18,999 3,865 -8 28,931 5,886 -7
2012 4,469 904 -7 18,194 3,680 -5 28,337 5,731 -3
2013 4,040 813 -10 16,696 3,361 -9 26,181 5,270 -8
2014 3,837 768 -6 17,882 3,579 6 27,569 5,517 5
2015 3,934 782 2 17,269 3,431 -4 27,001 5,364 -3
2016 4,076 797 2 18,556 3,629 6 28,387 5,552 4
2017 4,318 826 4 20,089 3,844 6 29,448 5,635 2
2018 4,678 874 6 22,459 4,198 9 31,896 5,963 6
Percent change from 2008 to 2018 -2 -12 Note ...: not applicable -3 -13 Note ...: not applicable -5 -14 Note ...: not applicable

Table 4 end

E use with caution

Note: This fact sheet contains data that come from multiple sources across multiple reference years. Some figures may be presented differently than in other Statistics Canada publications due to rounding. For detailed information on data definitions and sources, please refer to the Safe Cities profile series: Definitions and data sources document.

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