Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
Reduce the potential for crime with smart design. CPTED offers practical tips—like better lighting, trimmed landscaping, and clear boundaries—to make spaces less attractive to criminal activity. It's all part of the City's Community Safety Plan.
Request a CPTED audit
Book a free CPTED audit with a trained expert. Together, we’ll walk through your property to identify features in the built environment that may attract unwanted behaviour. Within a few days, you’ll receive a customized report with practical, site‑specific recommendations, along with an opportunity to connect with the City’s Community Safety team.
Request CPTED Audit
Note: CPTED audits focus only on the physical environment and cannot be used to report crime.
Did you complete a CPTED audit? Eligible businesses can receive up to $3,000 to implement audit recommendations. Learn more about the City's Business Security Enhancement Rebate Program.
How can design deter crime?
Packages left in plain view, overgrown bushes, and dark walkways all create opportunities for unwanted behaviour. CPTED gives homeowners, businesses, and communities practical tools to shape their surroundings and design spaces that feel safe, welcoming, and built for people—not for crime. Learn ways to protect yourself with our interactive toolkits.
Community Safety Toolkit
Business Safety Toolkit
Join the waitlist for CPTED training
Are you a leader in your community? Join CPTED training—a free 3-day course open to Block Connectors and members of neighbourhood or strata associations. You’ll learn how to apply CPTED principles to any built environment. Graduates commit to complete two audits each year.
Join waitlist
Become a Block Connector
Passionate about community safety? Become a Block Connector and make a difference where you live. Block Connectors are residents who strengthen connections between neighbours, help build safer and more welcoming neighborhoods, and have access to CPTED training.
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When encampments disrupted their business, Everden Rust requested a CPTED audit:
"[Community Safety] assisted in removing a cement barrier from the property. This barrier appeared to be a significant factor contributing to the loitering issues involving individuals struggling with substance use. [...] Since the barrier was removed, we haven’t experienced any loitering over the weekend."
Safety is a top priority in Kelowna
CPTED is a key part of the City’s Community Safety Plan—a five-year roadmap for building a safer, more inclusive Kelowna. Through this plan, the City works alongside Block Connectors, neighbourhood associations, stratas, and residents to create safe, welcoming spaces built for community.
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