Photo: Robert Garry · CC BY-SA 4.0Chibougamau records more crime per resident than 88% of Canadian towns
Between 2023 and 2025 the severity figure rose, 113.6 to 143.3. Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 264.7 and 75.5. A Safety Grade of D follows from crime the police covering Chibougamau reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #2,309 of 2,572 Canadian towns. What’s more, each year brought 41.5 violent incidents and 23.3 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size).
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. Area-wide: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts, counted over the area the Sûreté du Québec’s Chapais-Chibougamau unit covers.
What stands out about safety in Chibougamau
Assault: high for a town its size
Chibougamau records 24.2 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Heavier on violence
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Chibougamau’s two halves part ways: 264.7 for violence (typical 85.7) and 75.5 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Higher than most of Quebec
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Chibougamau, 128.7. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 64% of Chibougamau’s crime, weighted by seriousness (68% of violent crime, 58% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
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 Chibougamau’s D
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: #2,309 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.
Chibougamau’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Chibougamau runs highest on assault (24.2 per 1,000 against 6.7), drug offences (2.6 per 1,000 against 0.7) and sexual assault (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.9). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 11 | 1.3 | 36% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 23.3 | 2.7 | 99% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Robbery | 4 | 0.5 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.7 | 0.5 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 29.7 | 3.4 | 44% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 17.7 | 2 | 40% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 75 | 8.6 | 60% |
| Mischief | 26.7 | 3.1 | 64% |
| Weapons violations | 8.3 | 1 | 100% |
| Administration of justice violations | 89.7 | 10.3 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 10.7 | 1.2 | 78% |
| Drug violations | 22.3 | 2.6 | 73% |
| Impaired driving | 31.7 | 3.6 | 91% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 15.7 | 1.8 | 21% |
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.
Chibougamau, year by year
Crime Severity Index
It closed on its heaviest year, 2025, at 143.3; the lightest was 2023, at 113.6. In the same years the typical Canadian town its size read 74.3 (2023), then 64.2 (2025).
Every year as a table
| Year | Chibougamau | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 143.3 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 129.3 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 113.6 | 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 Chibougamau, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
By its index, Chibougamau stands 30th of 40 towns its size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| 2 | Shannon Quebec | 7,088 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 3 | L'Ange-Gardien Quebec | 7,068 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Joseph-du-Lac Quebec | 7,391 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon Quebec | 7,551 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 27 | Springhill Nova Scotia | 7,015 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| 28 | Wainwright Alberta | 6,996 | 113 | 121.8 | C− |
| 29 | Campbellton New Brunswick | 7,485 | 113.1 | 160.7 | C− |
| 30 | Chibougamau Quebec | 7,273 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| 31 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 129.8 | 116.4 | D |
| 32 | Digby Nova Scotia | 7,528 | 130.3 | 157.9 | D |
| 33 | Yarmouth Nova Scotia | 7,129 | 146.8 | 215.2 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | 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 Chibougamau in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Chibougamau is part of, 8,670 residents, recorded about 360 violent incidents a year (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.
Add about 200 property crimes and 190 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Chibougamau
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chibougamau | 7,273 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| Chapais (38 km) | 1,392 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| Mistissini (66 km) | 4,067 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
| Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (93 km) | 1,225 | 166.4 | 274.8 | D |
| Waswanipi (118 km) | 1,866 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
Nearby, 2 of 3 places with their own figures have a lower index than Chibougamau. Just 65.9 km away, Mistissini comes to 103.6, against 128.7. Same police, same number: one neighbour drops out of the comparison for that reason.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Chibougamau has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 38–118 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. 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.”
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Chibougamau alone.
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Chibougamau
Is Chibougamau safe?
A Crime Severity Index of 128.7 (2023–2025), set beside a median of 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: that is where Chibougamau stands, with 41.5 violent and 23.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Chibougamau?
Most often it is assault: 24.2 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 13.2 and theft under $5,000 at 8.6.
Is crime going up in Chibougamau?
It has: 113.6 in 2023 became 143.3 by 2025, a rise of 26%.
How much of Chibougamau’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 68% of violent crime and 58% of everything else, 64% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Chibougamau together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).