Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Cap-Chat records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
The index rose from 65.4 in 2023 to 74.5 in 2025. Across all the graded crimes, Cap-Chat lands on C+ (#359 of 503 in Quebec): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Behind the grade sit 22.7 violent incidents and 16.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. On Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, the 2023–2025 average is 70.1, where the typical Canadian town its size sits at 68.5.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Haute-Gaspésie MRC, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Cap-Chat
Police clear more here
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 62% for Cap-Chat (76% violent, 46% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Heavier on violence
Cap-Chat scores 128 for violence and 47.6 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Cap-Chat stands 26th, the lowest first. Towns its size ↓
Over the Quebec norm
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 70.1 in Cap-Chat. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Cap-Chat’s C+
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #359 of 503 in Quebec and #1,398 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Cap-Chat, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Cap-Chat runs highest on assault (10.1 per 1,000 against 6.7). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 14 | 1.3 | 69% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.7 | 0.06 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1 | 0.09 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 26.7 | 2.4 | 33% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 10.7 | 1 | 28% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 45 | 4.1 | 34% |
| Mischief | 43.7 | 4 | 31% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 42 | 3.8 | 100% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.7 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 15.7 | 1.4 | 62% |
| Impaired driving | 34.7 | 3.2 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 22.7 | 2.1 | 32% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Cap-Chat, year by year
Crime Severity Index
2025, the last year shown, came out highest at 74.5, and 2023 lowest at 65.4. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Cap-Chat | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 74.5 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 70.4 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 65.4 | 74.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Cap-Chat, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Among 40 towns its size, Cap-Chat places 26th
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonfield Ontario | 2,597 | 24.3 | 39.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 4 | Fossambault-sur-le-Lac Quebec | 2,505 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 7 | Saint-Polycarpe Quebec | 2,549 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 8 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 41.6 | 59.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,632 | 64.2 | 58.5 | B− |
| 24 | Esterhazy Saskatchewan | 2,513 | 66.4 | 84.4 | B− |
| 25 | Clearwater British Columbia | 2,500 | 69.5 | 47 | C+ |
| 26 | Cap-Chat Quebec | 2,519 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
| 27 | Berwick Nova Scotia | 2,631 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Salisbury New Brunswick | 2,585 | 72.8 | 74.8 | C+ |
| 29 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague Quebec | 2,536 | 75.4 | 130.4 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | High Prairie Alberta | 2,607 | 334.5 | 521.9 | D− |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Cap-Chat in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 250 violent incidents a year across the police area of 10,900 residents that includes Cap-Chat, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Property crime adds about 180 a year and other violations 130 (2023–2025 average). Of 1,000 dots, one per resident, the coloured ones are a year’s incidents at these rates.
Crime in the places around Cap-Chat
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap-Chat | 2,519 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (17 km) | 6,099 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
| Sainte-Félicité (52 km) | 1,053 | 53.9 | 85.4 | B |
| Matane (66 km) | 14,180 | 53.9 | 85.4 | B |
| Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis (77 km) | 1,031 | 70.1 | 128 | C+ |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Cap-Chat. Closest is Sainte-Félicité, 52.2 km away, at 53.9 to 70.1 here. Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 2 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. No closer places have figures: these lie 17–77 km from Cap-Chat.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- An index, not a verdict. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Policed as an MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Cap-Chat among them.
- The index’s scale. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Cap-Chat
Is Cap-Chat safe?
Its police recorded 22.7 violent incidents and 16.5 property crimes a year per 1,000 residents over 2023–2025, which gives Cap-Chat a Crime Severity Index of 70.1. The middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Cap-Chat?
The three biggest groups are assault at 10.1, Criminal Code traffic offences at 5.8 and other Criminal Code offences at 4.9, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Cap-Chat?
It went up 14% between 2023 and 2025, from 65.4 to 74.5.
How much of Cap-Chat’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 62% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 76% of violent crime and 46% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Cap-Chat and other places, so the figures are shared.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).