Photo: Laroutedesvins · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Dunham runs higher than in 61% of Canadian towns
Violence accounts for an index of 96 and other offences for 64.2, against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8. Per 1,000 residents a year, 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Scored on crime the police covering Dunham reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on C+ for safety: #369 of 503 in Quebec. From 2023 to 2025 its Crime Severity Index stayed steady, 64.4 then 67.4.
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. Not measured by town: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts (the Brome-Missisquoi MRC).
What stands out about safety in Dunham
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Dunham records 6.7 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Over the Quebec norm
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 72.8 in Dunham. Towns its size ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Line up the 40 Canadian towns nearest in size by their index and Dunham stands 21st, the lowest first. 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.
The C+ for Dunham, and how it is built
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: #369 of 503 in Quebec and #1,539 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.
Which crimes make up Dunham’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Dunham runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (5 per 1,000 against 0.03) and drug offences (6.7 per 1,000 against 0.7). Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 1.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 58.3 | 1 | 41% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16 | 0.3 | 88% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2.7 | 0.05 | — |
| Robbery | 4.3 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5 | 0.09 | 94% |
| Other violent violations | 13 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Breaking and entering | 104.7 | 1.8 | 28% |
| Possession of stolen property | 5 | 0.09 | 86% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 43.7 | 0.8 | 23% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 22.7 | 0.4 | 16% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 144.3 | 2.5 | 37% |
| Mischief | 118.7 | 2.1 | 26% |
| Weapons violations | 9.3 | 0.2 | 75% |
| Administration of justice violations | 126 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 30.7 | 0.5 | 50% |
| Drug violations | 385.7 | 6.7 | 18% |
| Impaired driving | 123.7 | 2.2 | 97% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 85 | 1.5 | 14% |
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.
Dunham, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year fell in the middle, 2024, at 86.7; 2023 was the lightest, at 64.4. The typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Dunham | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 64.4 | 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 Dunham, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
58,000 residents, about 710 violent incidents a year: the police area Dunham belongs to, 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.
And about 710 property crimes, plus 850 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Dunham comes 21st of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powassan Ontario | 3,657 | 15 | 22.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Saint-Isidore Quebec | 3,550 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Sulpice Quebec | 3,688 | 39.2 | 59 | A |
| 6 | Sainte-Claire Quebec | 3,724 | 39.7 | 73 | A |
| … | |||||
| 8 | Saint-Gilles Quebec | 3,521 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Electoral Area D (Rural Grand Forks), Kootenay Boundary British Columbia | 3,570 | 67.5 | 73.9 | B− |
| 19 | WestLake-Gladstone Manitoba | 3,604 | 67.8 | 71.8 | B− |
| 20 | Melancthon Ontario | 3,581 | 68.8 | 125.9 | B− |
| 21 | Dunham Quebec | 3,632 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 22 | Lac du Bonnet Manitoba | 3,592 | 76.7 | 86.3 | C+ |
| 23 | Blind River Ontario | 3,692 | 77.7 | 114 | C+ |
| 24 | Electoral Area L (Grasslands), Thompson-Nicola British Columbia | 3,543 | 80 | 77.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 495.1 | 602.4 | 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 Dunham in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Dunham
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunham | 3,632 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Cowansville | 17,269 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Brigham | 2,386 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Frelighsburg | 1,168 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Sutton | 4,775 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Bedford | 2,845 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby | 3,545 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
The table leaves out 5 neighbours whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Its scale starts from Canada in 2006, set at 100, so a figure above 100 means more serious crime per resident than the country had then.
- Solved cases. Police clear an incident by charging someone, recommending a charge, or closing it another way. The rate weighs serious crimes more, as the index does.
- How serious, not how safe. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- The whole MRC. Where the Sûreté du Québec polices, Statistics Canada publishes one figure per MRC; Dunham shares it with its neighbours.
Questions about safety in Dunham
Is Dunham safe?
The short answer is an index of 72.8 for Dunham (2023–2025), built from 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Dunham?
Police record drug offences most, 6.7 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of assault (6) and Cannabis Act offences (5).
Is crime going up in Dunham?
Barely: 64.4 in 2023, 67.4 in 2025.
How much of Dunham’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 57% of violent crime and 27% of everything else, 38% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Dunham and everywhere else it polices.
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).