Photo: DomLemLali · CC BY-SA 4.0Farnham has more crime per resident than three in five Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 89.4 and 56, violent and non-violent offences here reach 96 and 64.2. All 4 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Measured on crime the police covering Farnham reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C+: #369 of 503 in Quebec. Behind the grade sit 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.0 and 30.5 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Brome-Missisquoi MRC, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Farnham
Drug offences: high for a town its size
Farnham records 6.7 incidents of drug offences per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.8 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Farnham places 27th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
Heavier than Quebec’s middle
Farnham’s index of 72.8 compares with 56.1 for the typical town in Quebec. 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.
Farnham: C+ for safety, and why
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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Farnham, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Farnham runs highest on Cannabis Act offences (5 per 1,000 against 0.06), drug offences (6.7 per 1,000 against 0.8) and sexual assault (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.8). Motor vehicle theft 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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Farnham comes 27th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton Ontario | 11,810 | 25.7 | 30.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 8 | L'Île-Perrot Quebec | 11,921 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 9 | Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot Quebec | 11,716 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Pont-Rouge Quebec | 11,339 | 44.5 | 72 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Montmagny Quebec | 11,326 | 48.4 | 77.8 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 24 | Chester Nova Scotia | 11,740 | 63.1 | 76.8 | B− |
| 25 | West St. Paul Manitoba | 10,796 | 64.4 | 49.4 | B− |
| 26 | Morinville Alberta | 10,763 | 66.4 | 81.6 | B− |
| 27 | Farnham Quebec | 11,315 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 28 | Weyburn Saskatchewan | 11,871 | 75.6 | 64.9 | C+ |
| 29 | Liverpool Nova Scotia | 10,997 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| 30 | Hawkesbury Ontario | 11,451 | 92.7 | 131.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Williams Lake British Columbia | 11,462 | 248.9 | 248.6 | 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 Farnham in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Year by year in Farnham: steady, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The middle year, 2024, was the heaviest at 86.7; 2023 was lightest, at 64.4. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town its size, runs from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Farnham | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67.4 | 60 |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 64.4 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Farnham, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area Farnham is part of, 58,000 residents, recorded about 710 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.
Property crime adds about 710 a year and other violations 850 (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 Farnham
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnham | 11,315 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Sainte-Sabine | 1,123 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville | 1,540 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| Ange-Gardien | 3,100 | 55 | 88.5 | B |
| Saint-Alexandre | 2,685 | 62.8 | 83.3 | B− |
| Brigham | 2,386 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| Saint-Césaire | 6,150 | 55 | 88.5 | B |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Farnham. Closest is Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, 8.5 km away, at 62.8 to 72.8 here. 2 neighbours report through the same police, so their figure is this one and they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What clearance means. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.”
- Policed as an MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Farnham alone.
- 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.
Questions about safety in Farnham
Is Farnham safe?
With 12.4 violent incidents and 12.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Farnham comes to 72.8 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have a median of 66.
What is the most common crime in Farnham?
Most often it is drug offences: 6.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come assault at 6 and Cannabis Act offences at 5.
Is crime going up in Farnham?
Not much: the index went from 64.4 in 2023 to 67.4 in 2025.
How much of Farnham’s crime do police solve?
38%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 57% and non-violent crime at 27%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Farnham 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).