Home security in Ottawa: break-in data, alarm registration and installers

Break and enter in Ottawa: the official figures

The Ottawa Police Service publishes reported offences on its Community Safety Data Portal (Criminal Offences Open Data, updated 30 April 2026). Break and enters by year reported:

The data set does not split homes from businesses, but it does give the ward. In 2025 the most break-ins were reported in:

These central wards have the most shops and flats as well as homes, so counts are higher there. By time of day, 737 of the 2025 break-ins were recorded at night, 628 in the evening, 567 in the afternoon and 414 in the morning. If you live in an older central house, rear doors, basement windows and detached garages deserve attention; our security by house type guide covers the weak points.

Alarm registration and false alarms in Ottawa

The rules are in the Ottawa Police Service Board’s False Alarm Reduction By-law (No. 1 of 2010, as amended) and the Service’s protocol for responding to burglar alarm calls:

The 30-minute keyholder rule is the one that catches people out: if your contacts live across the city or are away, name someone closer or pay for a guard response. Our guide to building a response chain shows how to set it up, and the false alarm checklist helps stop repeat call-outs.

Doorbell cameras and privacy

The federal private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, does not apply to an individual who collects personal information for personal or domestic purposes only (section 4(2)(b)), so a camera that protects your own home is not regulated the way a shop camera is. That changes if the camera is used for a business, or run by a landlord, condominium corporation or property manager in shared areas. In Ontario, businesses are covered by PIPEDA itself. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s guidelines for overt video surveillance by organisations are a useful yardstick anyway: record only what you need, keep cameras off neighbours’ windows and yards, put up a notice, and delete footage you do not need. Practical steps: use privacy zones, switch off audio on cameras that face the street or a shared hallway, and keep a note of who can view the recordings. Our guides cover privacy zones, cameras in rented homes and police requests for doorbell footage in Canada.

Typical alarm and camera prices

We have not found an official Ottawa price survey, so start with the national ranges in our Canada home security costs guide. HomeStars’ cost guide (updated August 2026) puts an installed security alarm system at $260 to $900, a fully integrated alarm and camera system at $1,300 to $2,650, and a 4-camera bundle at $780 to $2,080, with camera installation labour at $130 to $400 per camera. Add any police permit fee, allow for false-alarm charges, and compare at least two written quotes for the same equipment list and the same monitoring plan. For the full cost over several years, see our five-year cost guide.

How to choose an alarm installer in Ottawa

• Ontario licensing. The Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 licenses security guards, private investigators and the agencies that sell their services. The province’s licensing pages do not list a separate licence for alarm or camera installers, so a PSISA licence number is not proof that someone can install your system. It does matter for response: a guard sent to your home when the alarm goes off should hold a security guard licence, which you can check on the province’s licence status search.
• Registration. Ask whether the company registers your alarm with the Ottawa Police for you and keeps your keyholder list up to date.
• Fees passed on. Ask what the current false alarm fee is and whether the company adds anything when it passes it on.
• Guard response. If you cannot guarantee a keyholder within 30 minutes, ask whether the company offers guard response and at what cost.
• Contract terms. Minimum term, automatic renewal, equipment ownership and early termination fees. Try our monitoring contract comparison tool.

Alarm and camera installers in Ottawa

These independent businesses appear in public business listings for the Ottawa area and describe themselves as installing alarms, cameras or both. We left out telecom and national brands, dealer branches and lead-generation sites. We have not checked their work, prices, licences or insurance, and none of them has paid to appear. If a company offers guard response, check the guard licence on Ontario’s licence status search.

To compare national companies instead, see our Canada home security providers comparison and the Canada monitored security companies directory, or request quotes.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Criminal Offences Open Data, Ottawa Police Service, updated 30 April 2026, queried 29 September 2026 (data.ottawapolice.ca)
• False Alarm Reduction By-law No. 1 of 2010, consolidated (ottawapoliceboard.ca)
• Protocol for Responding to Burglar Alarm Calls and Appeals Process (ottawapoliceboard.ca)
• Private security and investigative services (ontario.ca)
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 4(2) (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca)
• Provincial laws that may apply instead of PIPEDA (priv.gc.ca)
• Guidelines for Overt Video Surveillance in the Private Sector (priv.gc.ca)
• How Much Does a Home Security System Cost? (homestars.com), updated August 2026

Last checked: September 2026. Police fees and by-laws change, and open crime data is revised as cases are reclassified, so check the current position before you buy.

Home Security Innovations is a comparison and referral service, not an alarm or camera company. We do not install, monitor or respond to alarms, and a listing here is not a recommendation.