Safest Cities & Towns in Quebec

Data source: Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index — View the official dataset on Statistics Canada

Saguenay has the lowest Crime Severity Index among Quebec's 6 tracked metro areas, at 49.3, while Drummondville has the highest, at 72.3. Quebec's overall Crime Severity Index is 61.6. Canada's national average is 75.0.

Quebec Boundary

The boundary shown below is sourced from OpenStreetMap contributors, not Statistics Canada, and may be incomplete depending on how thoroughly the area has been mapped.

Statistics Canada does not publish the Crime Severity Index for individual cities, towns, or villages the way it does population figures - only for provinces, territories, and Census Metropolitan Areas. The tables below show the 10 safest and 10 highest-crime CMAs on record for this scope, not the full list of tracked metro areas.

Safest Metro Areas

# Metro Area Crime Severity Index Violent CSI Non-violent CSI 5-Year Change Core Municipality Pop. (2021)
1 Saguenay 49.3 88.0 34.3 -12.6% 144,723
2 Sherbrooke 50.3 77.9 39.6 -7.1% 172,950
3 Québec 55.0 81.0 45.0 -1.0% 549,459
4 Trois-Rivières 56.0 92.3 41.9 -9.5% 139,163
5 Montréal 61.3 92.0 49.5 -4.9% 1,762,949
6 Drummondville 72.3 129.8 49.9 +4.1% 79,258

Highest-Crime Metro Areas

# Metro Area Crime Severity Index Violent CSI Non-violent CSI 5-Year Change Core Municipality Pop. (2021)
1 Drummondville 72.3 129.8 49.9 +4.1% 79,258
2 Montréal 61.3 92.0 49.5 -4.9% 1,762,949
3 Trois-Rivières 56.0 92.3 41.9 -9.5% 139,163
4 Québec 55.0 81.0 45.0 -1.0% 549,459
5 Sherbrooke 50.3 77.9 39.6 -7.1% 172,950
6 Saguenay 49.3 88.0 34.3 -12.6% 144,723

CSI = Crime Severity Index.

Crime Severity Index Over Time

Crime Severity Index Breakdown

Crime Severity Index vs. Average

Clearance Rates

With a Crime Severity Index of 49.3, Saguenay ranks as Quebec's safest metro area — down 12.6% since 2024, when it stood at 56.4. Saguenay's metro population stood at 144,723 in the 2021 Census. Police cleared 54.3% of cases overall — 69.2% of violent cases and 39.0% of non-violent cases, with the non-violent clearance rate up 8.5% from the previous year.

Drummondville is Quebec's least safe metro area by Crime Severity Index, with a score of 72.3 — up 4.1% from 69.4 in 2024. The metro area had a population of 79,258 as of the 2021 Census. Police cleared 50.1% of cases overall — 65.7% of violent cases and 33.9% of non-violent cases, with the non-violent clearance rate down 11.8% from the previous year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Saguenay has the lowest Crime Severity Index among Quebec's metro areas, at 49.3, based on Statistics Canada's 2025 data.

Drummondville has the highest Crime Severity Index among Quebec's metro areas, at 72.3, based on Statistics Canada's 2025 data.

Drummondville has the highest Violent Crime Severity Index among Quebec's metro areas, at 129.8.

The Crime Severity Index (CSI) is Statistics Canada's official measure of police-reported crime, weighted by the relative severity of each offence rather than a simple count - a small number of serious crimes moves the index more than a large number of minor ones. A national average of 100 is set for the base year 2006; a CMA scoring below 100 has lower overall crime severity than that baseline, and one scoring above 100 has higher.