Photo: OgreBot · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime in Forestville sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
A Crime Severity Index of 72.5, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Within Quebec, half the towns score under 56.1. On top of that, the overall Safety Grade is C+ (#362 of 503 in Quebec), which means close to the middle of Canadian towns, judged on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 20.1 violent incidents and 14.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2.
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 Haute-Côte-Nord MRC.
What stands out about safety in Forestville
Rising since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Forestville moved from 55.8 to 91.7, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
More crime solved
Weighted by seriousness, 54% of crime in Forestville ends in a charge or is otherwise solved: 64% of violent crime and 44% of the rest. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people the figure is 34%. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Violent crime scores 127.6 on Forestville’s index against 85.7 for the typical Canadian town its size; non-violent crime, 51.1 against 62.8. By type ↓
In the middle of towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Forestville places 24th from the lowest index. 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’s behind Forestville’s grade
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: #362 of 503 in Quebec and #1,514 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.
In Forestville, up 64% between 2023 and 2025
Crime Severity Index
The latest year was its heaviest: 2025, at 91.7, with 2023 the lightest at 55.8. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Forestville | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 91.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 70.1 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 55.8 | 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 Forestville, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Which crimes make up Forestville’s figures
Against the typical town its size, Forestville runs highest on sexual assault (1.8 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (8.4 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 | 6 | 0.6 | 38% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4 | 0.4 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 1.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 15.7 | 1.6 | 72% |
| Breaking and entering | 24 | 2.5 | 36% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 12.3 | 1.3 | 35% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 27 | 2.8 | 32% |
| Mischief | 26.3 | 2.7 | 34% |
| Weapons violations | 6.3 | 0.6 | 79% |
| Administration of justice violations | 49.7 | 5.1 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 4.3 | 0.4 | — |
| Drug violations | 14.7 | 1.5 | 63% |
| Impaired driving | 29.7 | 3 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 12.7 | 1.3 | 16% |
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.
Forestville comes 24th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Ontario | 2,866 | 32.8 | 34.7 | A |
| 2 | Saint-Elzéar Quebec | 2,842 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| 3 | Rivière-Beaudette Quebec | 2,806 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Laurier-Station Quebec | 2,838 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| 6 | Yamachiche Quebec | 2,801 | 44.3 | 60.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Moosomin Saskatchewan | 2,906 | 68.2 | 62.3 | B− |
| 22 | Atikokan Ontario | 2,796 | 68.9 | 109.7 | B− |
| 23 | Cultus Lake British Columbia | 2,773 | 71.6 | 60.2 | C+ |
| 24 | Forestville Quebec | 2,835 | 72.5 | 127.6 | C+ |
| 25 | Bedford Quebec | 2,845 | 72.8 | 96 | C+ |
| 26 | Ferme-Neuve Quebec | 2,816 | 73.1 | 131 | C+ |
| 27 | Saint-Prime Quebec | 2,808 | 73.3 | 114.4 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 805.8 | 2,056.5 | 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 Forestville in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
The police area Forestville is part of, 9,750 residents, recorded about 200 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 140 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 Forestville
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestville | 2,835 | 72.5 | 127.6 | C+ |
| Pessamit (39 km) | 2,523 | 139.7 | 348 | D |
| Les Escoumins (49 km) | 1,751 | 72.5 | 127.6 | C+ |
| Saint-Fabien (53 km) | 1,866 | 44 | 75.8 | A− |
| Rimouski (53 km) | 51,756 | 44 | 75.8 | A− |
| Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard (58 km) | 3,018 | 44 | 75.8 | A− |
Forestville sits above 3 of the 4 neighbours with figures of their own. Just 52.5 km away, Saint-Fabien comes to 44, against 72.5. The comparison skips one neighbour reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Forestville with figures are 39–58 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Forestville alone.
- 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.
- Severity, weighed. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Forestville
Is Forestville safe?
Against a typical 68.5 for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Forestville’s Crime Severity Index stands at 72.5 for 2023–2025. Its police record 20.1 violent incidents and 14.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Forestville?
Most often it is assault: 8.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 6.6 and Criminal Code traffic offences at 5.
Is crime going up in Forestville?
Yes: the index rose 64%, from 55.8 in 2023 to 91.7 in 2025.
How much of Forestville’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 54%: 64% for violent crime and 44% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Forestville 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).