Photo: Réjean Tremblay · CC BY 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James than in 92% of Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 274.8 and 124.5. Graded on crime the police covering Eeyou Istchee Baie-James reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D for safety. Violence and property crime split as 37.4 violent incidents and 23.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. Source area for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: the area the Sûreté du Québec’s Matagami unit covers.
What stands out about safety in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James
A busy place, counted per resident
Seasonal homes make up about 32% of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James’s housing, so summer crime is set against winter’s population and the rates read high. How to read it ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Eeyou Istchee Baie-James records 18.3 incidents of assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Above Quebec’s typical town
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 166.4 in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Eeyou Istchee Baie-James’s police clear 49%, 66% of violent crime and 38% of the rest. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
Eeyou Istchee Baie-James: D for safety, and why
How sure: Less sure than most: the grade leans on the closest detachment, 59 km from Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, since none reports under the town’s name.
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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
What police record in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, by type
Against the typical town its size, Eeyou Istchee Baie-James runs highest on assault (18.3 per 1,000 against 6.7) and break and enter (5.7 per 1,000 against 2.5). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 1.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.8 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.8 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 14.7 | 5.7 | 43% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9.3 | 3.6 | 32% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 1.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11.7 | 4.5 | 40% |
| Mischief | 9.7 | 3.7 | 41% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 2.1 | 70% |
| Administration of justice violations | 15.3 | 5.9 | 80% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Drug violations | 7 | 2.7 | 53% |
| Impaired driving | 14.3 | 5.5 | 68% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.7 | 1.8 | — |
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 people or more.
The detachment closest to Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, 2,590 residents, recorded about 97 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.
And about 61 property crimes, plus 61 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
The index in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, each year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 199.3; the lightest was 2025, at 137.8. The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Eeyou Istchee Baie-James | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 137.8 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 162.1 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 199.3 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Eeyou Istchee Baie-James
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eeyou Istchee Baie-James | 1,225 | 166.4 | 274.8 | D |
| Waswanipi (26 km) | 1,866 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
| Chapais (57 km) | 1,392 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
| Chibougamau (93 km) | 7,273 | 128.7 | 264.7 | D |
Eeyou Istchee Baie-James has the highest index of the places around it. Just 26.1 km away, Waswanipi comes to 103.6, against 166.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Eeyou Istchee Baie-James with figures are 26–93 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.”
- Few people behind the figures. The police behind these figures serve about 2,589 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Eeyou Istchee Baie-James among them.
- What 100 means. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- The clearance rate. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
Questions about safety in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James
Is Eeyou Istchee Baie-James safe?
Eeyou Istchee Baie-James scores 166.4 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), where the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2; per 1,000 residents a year that is 37.4 violent incidents and 23.5 property crimes.
What is the most common crime in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James?
Police record assault most, 18.3 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of other Criminal Code offences (10.7) and Criminal Code traffic offences (10.2).
Is crime going up in Eeyou Istchee Baie-James?
The reverse: 199.3 in 2023 came down to 137.8 by 2025, 31% lower. The police area is small or partly reported, so treat the change with care.
How much of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 66% of violent crime and 38% of everything else, 49% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 34% for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Eeyou Istchee Baie-James 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).