Photo: Félix Mathieu-Bégin · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, La Sarre records more crime than 63% of Canadian towns
Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 75.8 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 68.5 for the typical Canadian town its size. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at C+, drawn from crime the police covering La Sarre reported through 2023 to 2025: #382 of 503 in Quebec. Police counts work out at 23.4 violent incidents and 14.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the typical town its size they are 12.9 and 31.2. Its Crime Severity Index dropped from 84.1 in 2023 to 76.7 by 2025.
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 Abitibi-Ouest MRC.
What stands out about safety in La Sarre
Drug offences: high for a town its size
La Sarre records 1.9 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 ↓
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 57% of La Sarre’s crime, weighted by seriousness (70% of violent crime, 44% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Set beside the typical Canadian town its size, La Sarre’s two halves part ways: 140 for violence (typical 85.7) and 50.7 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
Higher than most of Quebec
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 75.8 in La Sarre. 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.
Inside La Sarre’s C+ for safety
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: #382 of 503 in Quebec and #1,575 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.
La Sarre’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, La Sarre runs highest on drug offences (1.9 per 1,000 against 0.7), sexual assault (1.7 per 1,000 against 0.9) and assault (9.5 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 | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 15.7 | 0.8 | 62% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 9.3 | 0.5 | 68% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 3.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 5 | 0.2 | 86% |
| Other violent violations | 14.3 | 0.7 | 61% |
| Breaking and entering | 47.3 | 2.3 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 13 | 0.6 | 52% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 68.3 | 3.3 | 36% |
| Mischief | 65.7 | 3.2 | 35% |
| Weapons violations | 9 | 0.4 | 89% |
| Administration of justice violations | 106.7 | 5.2 | 94% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 12.3 | 0.6 | 71% |
| Drug violations | 39.7 | 1.9 | 64% |
| Impaired driving | 42 | 2.1 | 100% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 26.7 | 1.3 | 35% |
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.
La Sarre, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Its heaviest year came first: 2023, at 84.1, against a low of 66.5 in 2024. For the typical Canadian town its size, 2023 gave 74.3 and 2025 gave 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | La Sarre | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76.7 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 66.5 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 84.1 | 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 La Sarre, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
The police area La Sarre is part of, 20,400 residents, recorded about 480 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.
Add about 290 property crimes and 260 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Among 40 towns its size, La Sarre places 23rd
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trent Lakes Ontario | 7,357 | 20.6 | 24.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 3 | Shannon Quebec | 7,088 | 28.2 | 46.7 | A+ |
| 4 | L'Ange-Gardien Quebec | 7,068 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Saint-Joseph-du-Lac Quebec | 7,391 | 30.8 | 56.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon Quebec | 7,551 | 37.7 | 68.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Fernie British Columbia | 7,086 | 69.5 | 65.2 | C+ |
| 21 | Val-des-Sources Quebec | 7,303 | 72.6 | 127.5 | C+ |
| 22 | Perth Ontario | 6,972 | 72.7 | 120.3 | C+ |
| 23 | La Sarre Quebec | 7,199 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| 24 | Devon Alberta | 6,965 | 76.7 | 61.5 | C+ |
| 25 | Hampstead Quebec | 7,464 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 26 | Springhill Nova Scotia | 7,015 | 93.1 | 86.7 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 7,008 | 302.3 | 509 | 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 La Sarre in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Crime in the places around La Sarre
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Sarre | 7,199 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| Macamic | 2,698 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
| Palmarolle | 1,425 | 75.8 | 140 | C+ |
Its police also cover 2 neighbouring places, which carry the same index and are left out above.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Police-reported incidents, each multiplied by a weight drawn from court sentences, summed and divided by the population: that is the index, and its makers attach a caution, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for La Sarre alone.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
- Cleared, not convicted. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
Questions about safety in La Sarre
Is La Sarre safe?
La Sarre’s Crime Severity Index is 75.8 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 23.4 violent incidents and 14.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in La Sarre?
Assault is the most common, at 9.5 per 1,000 residents a year, then other Criminal Code offences (6.9) and fraud (4.2).
Is crime going up in La Sarre?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 9%, to 76.7 from 84.1.
How much of La Sarre’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 57%: 70% for violent crime and 44% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving La Sarre together with its neighbours or the countryside around it.
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).