Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Low runs higher than in 74% of Canadian towns
By 2025 the index had dropped to 83.8, down from 95.6 in 2023. Year on year, 27.4 violent incidents and 20.8 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. On top of that, on the record of crime the police covering Low reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C for safety. Against usual levels of 86.4 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 152.3 and 66.7.
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. Data for crime severity, crime rate and incident counts covers the Vallée-de-la-Gatineau MRC.
What stands out about safety in Low
More people here than live here
About 43% of Low’s homes are cottages, second homes or otherwise empty much of the year: crime in the busy months is divided by year-round residents only, which lifts every rate here. How to read it ↓
Assault: high for a town its size
Low records 15.9 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 ↓
More crime solved
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 59% for Low (75% violent, 45% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Heavier than Quebec’s middle
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 90.6 in Low. 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 Low’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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Crime in Low, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Low runs highest on assault (15.9 per 1,000 against 6.7) and mischief (4.8 per 1,000 against 4.2).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 14.7 | 0.7 | 70% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 16.7 | 0.8 | 88% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 5 | 0.2 | 100% |
| Robbery | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Other violent violations | 11.7 | 0.6 | 74% |
| Breaking and entering | 88.3 | 4.3 | 29% |
| Possession of stolen property | 11 | 0.5 | 55% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 45.7 | 2.2 | 26% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 13.3 | 0.7 | 17% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 83.3 | 4.1 | 36% |
| Mischief | 98 | 4.8 | 46% |
| Weapons violations | 15.3 | 0.8 | 80% |
| Administration of justice violations | 112 | 5.5 | 95% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 15 | 0.7 | 87% |
| Drug violations | 41.3 | 2 | 83% |
| Impaired driving | 46.3 | 2.3 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 22.3 | 1.1 | 21% |
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.
Low, year by year
Crime Severity Index
Nothing since 2023 has matched that year’s 95.6; the lightest was 2025, at 83.8. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Low | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 83.8 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 92.5 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 95.6 | 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 Low, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
About 560 violent incidents a year across the police area of 20,600 residents that includes Low, 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 420 property crimes, plus 280 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Crime in the places around Low
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 1,064 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| La Pêche (16 km) | 9,379 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| Kazabazua (21 km) | 1,083 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| Gracefield (32 km) | 2,544 | 90.6 | 152.3 | C |
| Chelsea (33 km) | 8,998 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
| Cantley (35 km) | 12,291 | 29.4 | 51.6 | A+ |
Low has the highest index of the places around it. Just 16.3 km away, La Pêche comes to 29.4, against 90.6. Sharing its police with 2 neighbours, it shares their figure as well, so they aren’t compared.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Low with figures are 16–35 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Low among them.
- What 100 means. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- The clearance rate. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- Severity, weighed. The index weighs crimes rather than counting them: a serious offence moves it far more than a minor one. Statistics Canada is plain about its limits: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Low
Is Low safe?
Against a typical 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, Low’s Crime Severity Index stands at 90.6 for 2023–2025. Its police record 27.4 violent incidents and 20.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Low?
Most often it is assault: 15.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Next come other Criminal Code offences at 7.3 and mischief at 4.8.
Is crime going up in Low?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 12%, to 83.8 from 95.6.
How much of Low’s crime do police solve?
59%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ manages 34%. Violent crime is cleared at 75% and non-violent crime at 45%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Low 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).