Methodology
How neighbourhood scores work
Each metric is converted to a 0-100 score with fixed breakpoints (piecewise-linear, not relative to other neighbourhoods). Metrics are averaged into categories using the weights below, and categories into the overall score. Distances and shares are measured from where residents live (municipal address points on residential zoning, with apartment addresses weighted by their units), weighted by population.
Scoring model v2, updated 2026-10-11. Every number on this page is read from the same configuration file the data pipeline uses.
Overall score
The overall score is the weighted average of seven category scores. On the home page you can change these weights or pick a preset; category scores stay the same, only how they are combined changes.
Safety
25% of overallCrime near homes and serious traffic collisions.
Violent crime near homes · 50% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Police-reported violent incidents (2023-24) on residential land, plus half of those on main-street / mixed-use land, per 1,000 residents per year. Residents are the 2021 Census population grown by the homes built since. Small neighbourhoods are shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Ottawa Police Service Criminal Offences; City of Ottawa Zoning By-law 2008-250
Property crime near homes · 30% of Safety · per 1,000 residents / yr, lower is better
Break-ins, theft, vehicle theft, mischief and arson on residential land, plus half of those on mixed-use land, per 1,000 residents (grown since 2021) per year, shrunk toward the city rate.
Source: Ottawa Police Service Criminal Offences; City of Ottawa Zoning By-law 2008-250
Injury collisions on local roads · 20% of Safety · per 10 km of road / yr, lower is better
Injury collisions (2022 and 2024; the City has not published 2023) per 10 km of non-freeway road per year. Fatal and major-injury collisions count three times and any collision involving a pedestrian or cyclist counts double. Freeway collisions are excluded. Shrunk toward the city rate for short road networks.
Source: City of Ottawa Traffic Collision Data; Roads - Classification
Schools
15% of overallResults at the schools residents would most likely attend, and how far away they are.
Nearest elementary schools (EQAO) · 45% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the 3-year EQAO average of the nearest English public (OCDSB) and English Catholic (OCSB) elementary schools, averaged across residents. EQAO results also reflect family income, not only school quality.
Source: Ontario School Information and Student Demographics (2022-23 to 2024-25); City of Ottawa Schools
Nearest high schools (EQAO / OSSLT) · 20% of Schools · % meeting standard, higher is better
For each home, the 3-year average of Grade 9 math and Grade 10 literacy results at the nearest OCDSB and OCSB secondary schools.
Source: Ontario School Information and Student Demographics (2022-23 to 2024-25)
Distance to an elementary school · 35% of Schools · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to the nearest public elementary school of any board.
Source: City of Ottawa Schools
Amenities
15% of overallShare of residents who can reach everyday destinations nearby.
Grocery store within 1 km · 25% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents living within 1 km (straight line) of a grocery store.
Source: Ottawa Public Health food premises, categorized
Park within 400 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of the edge of a City park.
Source: City of Ottawa Parks and Greenspace
5+ places to eat within 800 m · 20% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents with at least five restaurants, cafes, bakeries or pubs within 800 m.
Source: Ottawa Public Health food premises, categorized
Recreation facility within 1.5 km · 15% of Amenities · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1.5 km of a City pool, arena, rink or community centre.
Source: City of Ottawa recreation facilities
Distance to a library · 20% of Amenities · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest Ottawa Public Library branch.
Source: Ottawa Public Library
Getting Around
15% of overallFrequent transit, protected bike routes, and how far homes are from downtown jobs and highways.
Peak transit service near home · 35% of Getting Around · departures / hour, higher is better
Weekday 7-9 am departures per hour within 400 m (bus) or 800 m (O-Train), counting each route and direction once, averaged across residents.
Source: OC Transpo GTFS
Distance to downtown · 25% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average straight-line distance from homes to downtown (Parliament Hill), the city's largest employment centre.
Source: Computed from resident locations
Protected bike route within 400 m · 25% of Getting Around · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 400 m of a multi-use path, cycle track or segregated bike lane. Painted lanes, suggested routes and paved shoulders don't count.
Source: City of Ottawa Cycling Network
Distance to a highway · 15% of Getting Around · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest freeway or provincial highway.
Source: City of Ottawa Roads - Classification
Nature
10% of overallTree cover, nearby large greenspace, and parkland per resident.
Tree canopy · 35% of Nature · % coverage, higher is better
Share of land under tree canopy (2024). Ottawa's urban forest target is 40%.
Source: ONS-SQO / City of Ottawa tree canopy 2024
Large greenspace within 1 km · 35% of Nature · % of residents, higher is better
Share of residents within 1 km of a park or nature area of 4 ha or more (City or federal/NCC land), or an NCC Greenbelt trail.
Source: City of Ottawa Parks and Greenspace; OpenStreetMap (for NCC and provincial land); NCC Greenbelt trails
Parkland nearby per 1,000 residents · 30% of Nature · ha / 1,000 residents, higher is better
Hectares of City parkland within 1 km of each home divided by the residents who share it. The City's planning standard is 2 ha per 1,000 residents.
Source: City of Ottawa Parks and Greenspace
Affordability
10% of overallTypical rent and home value, from one consistent source for every neighbourhood.
Typical rent · 50% of Affordability · $ / month, lower is better
2021 Census median monthly rent, scaled to today's market by one citywide factor (median ratio of sourced 2024-25 listings to 2021 Census rents).
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census via ONS-SQO; Zumper / CMHC / RentCafe listings for the citywide factor
Typical home value · 50% of Affordability · $, lower is better
2021 Census median value of owned dwellings, scaled to today's market by one citywide factor (median ratio of sourced recent sales to 2021 Census values).
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census via ONS-SQO; AgentInOttawa / Zolo sales for the citywide factor
Health & Environment
10% of overallEmergency care, primary care, overdose burden and traffic noise.
Distance to an emergency department · 40% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Average distance from homes to the nearest 24/7 adult emergency department (Civic, General, Queensway-Carleton, Montfort). Hospitals without an emergency department (Riverside, Royal Ottawa, Bruyère, Saint-Vincent, the Rehabilitation Centre) don't count.
Source: City of Ottawa Hospitals
Overdose ED visits · 25% of Health & Environment · per 100K / yr, lower is better
Overdose emergency visits per 100,000 residents per year (2020-24), shrunk toward the city rate for small neighbourhoods.
Source: Ottawa Public Health
Homes next to major roads · 20% of Health & Environment · % of homes, lower is better
Share of homes (apartment addresses weighted by their units) within 150 m of a freeway or 50 m of an arterial road, a standard proxy for traffic noise and air pollution exposure.
Source: City of Ottawa Municipal Address Points; Roads - Classification
Distance to a family / walk-in clinic · 15% of Health & Environment · km, lower is better
Interim measure: average distance to the nearest family practice or walk-in clinic mapped in OpenStreetMap. OSM coverage is incomplete; this will be replaced by neighbourhood primary-care attachment rates when they are published.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors
Turning values into scores
Each metric is mapped to 0–100 with fixed breakpoints (shown beside each metric) and straight lines between them. Values beyond the first or last breakpoint get that breakpoint's score. Because the breakpoints are fixed, a neighbourhood's score only changes when its own data changes.
Counts of rare events (crime, collisions, overdoses) are noisy in small neighbourhoods. Rates are shrunk toward the city rate by adding 5,000 person-years (or 30 road-km-years for collisions) at the city average. This pulls small neighbourhoods toward the middle in both directions; large neighbourhoods barely move.
Missing data is never treated as zero. A category's score is the weighted average of the metrics that have data; if less than 70% of its weight has data, the category is left out of the overall score and the neighbourhood is flagged.
Score labels: Excellent (80+), Very good (75+), Good (65+), Fair (55+), Poor (0+). The thresholds are set so a label never contradicts a neighbourhood's tier (no “Very good” in the bottom half).
Rankings
Neighbourhoods with the same rounded score share a rank. Because reasonable people weigh categories differently, each neighbourhood also shows a likely rank range: the overall score is recomputed 500 times with every category weight multiplied by a random factor between 0.8 and 1.2, and the range covers the 10th to 90th percentile of the resulting ranks.
Tiers: Top 10%, Top 25%, Top half, Bottom half. A narrow range means the rank holds up under different weightings; a wide one means it depends on what you value.
- Balanced: The default weights. (Safety 25%, Schools 15%, Amenities 15%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 10%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Families: Schools, safety and parks first. (Safety 25%, Schools 25%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 5%, Nature 15%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 10%)
- Car-free: Transit, walkable amenities and downtown access. (Safety 15%, Schools 5%, Amenities 25%, Getting Around 35%, Nature 5%, Affordability 10%, Health & Environment 5%)
- On a budget: Lower rent and home prices weigh most. (Safety 20%, Schools 10%, Amenities 10%, Getting Around 15%, Nature 5%, Affordability 35%, Health & Environment 5%)
- Retirees: Safety, health care and quiet nature. (Safety 25%, Amenities 20%, Getting Around 10%, Nature 15%, Affordability 5%, Health & Environment 25%)
Shown but not scored
These appear in each neighbourhood's breakdown for context but do not affect scores.
- All police-reported incidents
- Every incident in the neighbourhood divided by residents. Inflated in areas with many visitors, so it is shown but not scored.
- Residents used for crime rates
- 2021 Census population grown by the dwellings added since (municipal address points), estimated for the crime data period, so fast-growing suburbs are not divided by an out-of-date population.
- Incidents in commercial / institutional areas
- Incidents on land zoned commercial, industrial, institutional or park. Reflects visitor activity more than risk at home.
- All collisions
- Every reported collision, including property-damage-only.
- Schools inside the boundary
- Count of schools located inside the neighbourhood polygon. Not scored, since children often attend schools just outside it.
- Walk Score (official)
- Population-weighted mean Walk Score published by ONS-SQO. Shown for reference; the Amenities metrics above measure the same thing directly.
- Bike Score (official)
- Population-weighted mean Bike Score published by ONS-SQO.
- Workers commuting 60+ min
- 2021 Census. Collected during the pandemic, so shown for context only.
- Average pavement age
- Length-weighted average age of road surface. Age is not condition, so it is not scored.
- Food inspection average
- Average Ottawa Public Health inspection score. Nearly every neighbourhood is between 97 and 100, so it is not scored.
- Recent listing rent (sample)
- Hand-collected listing average where a source exists; marked estimate otherwise.
- Recent sale price (sample)
- Hand-collected sales figure where a source exists; marked estimate otherwise.
- Neighbourhood Equity Index (2019)
- City of Ottawa equity index used to prioritize investment. It measures disadvantage, not liveability, so it is not scored.
- 311 requests
- Reflects how often residents call 311 as much as conditions on the ground.
Known limitations
- Statistics Canada's dissemination-block files were unavailable, so resident locations come from City of Ottawa municipal address points on residential, mixed-use and rural zoning. Each neighbourhood's 2021 Census population is spread across its address points.
- Distances are straight-line, not along streets or paths.
- Collision data covers 2022 and 2024; the City has not published 2023.
- Crime is police-reported incidents (2023–24). Unreported crime is not captured, and location precision varies.
- EQAO results reflect family income as well as school quality, and catchment boundaries are approximated by the nearest school of each English board.
- Primary-care access uses clinics mapped in OpenStreetMap, which is incomplete. It carries a small weight until neighbourhood attachment rates are published.
- Rent and home values are 2021 Census medians scaled by one citywide factor, so they rank neighbourhoods consistently but are not current asking prices.