Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Lyster records less crime per resident than 60% of Canadian towns
All 5 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. By contrast, a Crime Severity Index of 55.6, the 2023–2025 mean, compares with 67.2 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+. Measured on crime the police covering Lyster reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of B. Violence and property crime split as 15.0 violent incidents and 16.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
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. The crime severity, crime rate and incident counts numbers here cover the Érable MRC.
What stands out about safety in Lyster
A high clearance rate
Police cleared 55% of Lyster’s crime, weighted by seriousness (73% of violent crime, 42% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Less severe than in 2023
Lyster’s index went from 60.7 in 2023 to 50.1 in 2025; the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ moved from 70.6 to 62.9. Year by year ↓
Near the Quebec middle
Within Quebec, the median town comes to 56.1 on the index, against 55.6 in Lyster. 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.
Lyster: B 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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Lyster’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Lyster runs highest on assault (7.8 per 1,000 against 6.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 15 | 0.6 | 71% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 2.3 | 0.10 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 3 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 61.7 | 2.5 | 34% |
| Possession of stolen property | 8 | 0.3 | 54% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 41.3 | 1.7 | 17% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 11 | 0.4 | 18% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 99.7 | 4.1 | 53% |
| Mischief | 63.7 | 2.6 | 39% |
| Weapons violations | 4.7 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 42 | 1.7 | 86% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 8.3 | 0.3 | 69% |
| Drug violations | 18.7 | 0.8 | 57% |
| Impaired driving | 35 | 1.4 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 36 | 1.5 | 17% |
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.
Year by year in Lyster: down 17%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (60.7); 2025 was the lightest, at 50.1. The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Lyster | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 50.1 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 55.9 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 60.7 | 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 Lyster, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
About 370 violent incidents a year across the police area of 24,500 residents that includes Lyster, 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 400 a year and other violations 160 (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 Lyster
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyster | 1,679 | 55.6 | 81.9 | B |
| Laurierville | 1,368 | 55.6 | 81.9 | B |
| Val-Alain | 1,084 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Saint-Janvier-de-Joly | 1,204 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Saint-Flavien | 1,682 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Sainte-Agathe-de-Lotbinière | 1,042 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
| Laurier-Station | 2,838 | 42.6 | 72.9 | A− |
Every neighbour with a figure of its own has a lower index than Lyster. Closest is Val-Alain, 11.9 km away, at 42.6 to 55.6 here. The table leaves out one neighbour whose figure is this one, reported by the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- What clearance means. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
- An index, not a verdict. 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.
- Policed as an MRC. The Sûreté du Québec reports by MRC, so the figures cover every municipality it polices there, Lyster among them.
Questions about safety in Lyster
Is Lyster safe?
On Statistics Canada’s figures, Lyster scores 55.6 on the Crime Severity Index for 2023–2025, with 15 violent and 16.4 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Lyster?
Police record assault most, 7.8 per 1,000 residents a year, ahead of fraud (4.4) and theft under $5,000 (4.1).
Is crime going up in Lyster?
The reverse: 60.7 in 2023 came down to 50.1 by 2025, 17% lower.
How much of Lyster’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 55%: 73% for violent crime and 42% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Lyster 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).