Photo: TOBound · Public domainMatagami sees more crime per resident than nine in ten Canadian towns
Split in two, the index gives 274.8 for violence and 124.5 for everything else (normally 86.4 and 62.8). Its Safety Grade is D, on crime the police covering Matagami reported from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, typical years here bring 37.4 violent incidents plus 23.5 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.0 plus 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 area the Sûreté du Québec’s Matagami unit covers.
What stands out about safety in Matagami
Assault: high for a town its size
Matagami records 18.3 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 ↓
Higher than most of Quebec
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Matagami, 166.4. Towns its size ↓
Police clear more here
For Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the typical clearance rate is 34%; Matagami’s police clear 49%, 66% of violent crime and 38% of the rest. Questions ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Matagami’s index splits into violent crime, 274.8 here and 86.4 for the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, and everything else, 124.5 against 62.8. 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 D for Matagami, and how it is built
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.
What police record in Matagami, by type
Against the typical town its size, Matagami runs highest on assault (18.3 per 1,000 against 6.7) and break and enter (5.7 per 1,000 against 2.5). Theft under $5,000 sits below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 3.7 | 1.4 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 2 | 0.8 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2 | 0.8 | — |
| Other violent violations | 2.7 | 1 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 14.7 | 5.7 | 43% |
| Possession of stolen property | 1 | 0.4 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9.3 | 3.6 | 32% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 3 | 1.2 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 11.7 | 4.5 | 40% |
| Mischief | 9.7 | 3.7 | 41% |
| Weapons violations | 5.3 | 2.1 | 70% |
| Administration of justice violations | 15.3 | 5.9 | 80% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.3 | 0.9 | — |
| Drug violations | 7 | 2.7 | 53% |
| Impaired driving | 14.3 | 5.5 | 68% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 4.7 | 1.8 | — |
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.
The police area Matagami is part of, 2,590 residents, recorded about 97 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 61 property crimes, plus 61 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Matagami’s index year by year
Crime Severity Index
2023 opened the run as its heaviest year (199.3); 2025 was the lightest, at 137.8. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+ went from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Matagami | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 137.8 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 162.1 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 199.3 | 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 Matagami, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Crime in the places around Matagami
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matagami | 1,364 | 166.4 | 274.8 | D |
| Lebel-sur-Quévillon (92 km) | 2,229 | 90.6 | 183.4 | C |
| Waswanipi (120 km) | 1,866 | 103.6 | 197.1 | C− |
| Saint-Félix-de-Dalquier (126 km) | 1,046 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| Amos (136 km) | 12,773 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
| Trécesson (138 km) | 1,240 | 78.7 | 145.2 | C |
The places around Matagami all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Lebel-sur-Quévillon (91.7 km away), scores 90.6 against 166.4.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. The nearest places to Matagami with figures are 92–138 km away.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Few people behind the figures. With roughly 2,589 residents in its police area, a few cases swing the figures. In Statistics Canada’s words, “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Shared across the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Matagami alone.
- 100 is Canada in 2006. A reading of 100 is the whole country in 2006. Half of that, 50, means half the severity per resident.
- Cleared, not convicted. Weighted like the index, so solving one assault counts for more than solving a mischief; a charge laid, recommended or otherwise resolved all count.
- What the index measures. 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 Matagami
Is Matagami safe?
Against a typical 67.2 for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more, Matagami’s Crime Severity Index stands at 166.4 for 2023–2025. Its police record 37.4 violent incidents and 23.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Matagami?
The three biggest groups are assault at 18.3, other Criminal Code offences at 10.7 and Criminal Code traffic offences at 10.2, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Matagami?
The reverse: 199.3 in 2023 came down to 137.8 by 2025, 31% lower. The police area is small or partly reported, so treat the change with care.
How much of Matagami’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 49% of crime (66% of violent crime, 38% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
Those of the police serving Matagami 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).