Photo: busand2003 · CC BY 3.0Crime in Gaspé sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
A Crime Severity Index of 57.9, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 66 for the typical Canadian town its size. Its Safety Grade, B (#271 of 503 in Quebec), rests on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025: close to the middle of Canadian towns. The yearly rates were 15.8 violent incidents and 11.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 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. Shared with the rest of the Côte-de-Gaspé MRC: crime severity, crime rate and incident counts.
What stands out about safety in Gaspé
Less severe than in 2023
From 73.4 in 2023 to 51 in 2025: that is Gaspé’s index, against 69.5 and 60 for the typical Canadian town its size. Year by year ↓
Police clear more here
Police cleared 74% of Gaspé’s crime, weighted by seriousness (86% of violent crime, 61% of the rest), against 33% across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Questions ↓
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Gaspé records 1.4 incidents of sexual assault 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 ↓
Violent crime leads the index
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, Gaspé’s two halves part ways: 106.1 for violence (typical 89.4) and 39.2 for the rest (typical 56). By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: B for Gaspé
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: #271 of 503 in Quebec and #876 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.
Year by year in Gaspé: down 30%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The first year, 2023, was the heaviest at 73.4, and 2024 the lightest at 49.4. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 69.5 and 2025 gave 60.
Every year as a table
| Year | Gaspé | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 51 | 60 |
| 2024 | 49.4 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 73.4 | 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 Gaspé, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Gaspé’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Gaspé runs highest on sexual assault (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.8) and drug offences (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.8). Break and enter and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.7 | 0.04 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 8.7 | 0.5 | 77% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 5.7 | 0.3 | 53% |
| Breaking and entering | 26.7 | 1.5 | 69% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1.7 | 0.09 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 4.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 46.3 | 2.6 | 52% |
| Mischief | 53.7 | 3 | 39% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 62.7 | 3.5 | 98% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 6.3 | 0.4 | 59% |
| Drug violations | 20.3 | 1.1 | 74% |
| Impaired driving | 38 | 2.1 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 33 | 1.8 | 18% |
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.
The police area Gaspé is part of, 17,900 residents, recorded about 280 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 200 property crimes, plus 190 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Gaspé is 20th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorchester Ontario | 15,475 | 28.2 | 19.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Mercier Quebec | 16,036 | 35.9 | 60.1 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Pincourt Quebec | 15,220 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 13 | Bécancour Quebec | 14,943 | 46.5 | 64.3 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 15 | Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines Quebec | 15,904 | 47.9 | 61 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Sainte-Adèle Quebec | 15,216 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| 18 | Limoges Ontario | 15,122 | 53.9 | 62.3 | B |
| 19 | Mountain View County Alberta | 14,802 | 54.8 | 78.3 | B |
| 20 | Gaspé Quebec | 15,479 | 57.9 | 106.1 | B |
| 21 | Lavaltrie Quebec | 15,996 | 58 | 90.3 | B |
| 22 | Carleton Place Ontario | 14,837 | 61.2 | 94.7 | B− |
| 23 | Lacombe Alberta | 14,733 | 61.7 | 47.6 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | North Battleford Saskatchewan | 14,882 | 528.4 | 591.9 | 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 Gaspé in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around Gaspé
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaspé | 15,479 | 57.9 | 106.1 | B |
| Percé (30 km) | 3,137 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
| Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé (44 km) | 1,009 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
| Grande-Rivière (48 km) | 3,318 | 69.4 | 134.9 | C+ |
Gaspé has the lowest index of the places around it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Distances here run 30–48 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Gaspé.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Reading the number. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Solved cases. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
- The whole MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Gaspé among them.
Questions about safety in Gaspé
Is Gaspé safe?
The short answer is an index of 57.9 for Gaspé (2023–2025), built from 15.8 violent incidents and 11.1 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. In the middle of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people the figure is 66.
What is the most common crime in Gaspé?
Assault is the most common, at 7.1 per 1,000 residents a year, then Criminal Code traffic offences (4.6) and other Criminal Code offences (4.6).
Is crime going up in Gaspé?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 30%, to 51 from 73.4.
How much of Gaspé’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 74% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 86% of violent crime and 61% of the rest, against 33% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Gaspé 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).