Photo: Robbie Sproule from Montreal, Canada · CC BY 2.0Montréal-Ouest has more crime per resident than two in three Canadian towns
The index held steady between 2023 (81.4) and 2025 (78.4). The grade is C, built on crime the police covering Montréal-Ouest reported from 2023 to 2025: #396 of 503 in Quebec. Behind the grade sit 15.4 violent incidents and 29.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.9 and 31.2 in the typical town its size. Of the two halves, violence comes to 115.7 and other offences to 66.9, beside norms of 85.7 and 62.8.
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 Montréal service area.
What stands out about safety in Montréal-Ouest
Above Quebec’s typical town
The typical Quebec town scores 56.1; Montréal-Ouest, 80.3. Towns its size ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Set among the 40 Canadian towns closest to it in population, Montréal-Ouest comes 28th, counting from the lowest Crime Severity Index. Towns its size ↓
Motor vehicle theft: high for a town its size
Montréal-Ouest records 4.3 incidents of motor vehicle theft per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.6 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Montréal-Ouest’s grade
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: #396 of 503 in Quebec and #1,643 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.
Crime in Montréal-Ouest, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Montréal-Ouest runs highest on robbery (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.5), motor vehicle theft (4.3 per 1,000 against 2.6) and drug offences (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.7). Theft under $5,000 and mischief sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 32 | 0.02 | 65% |
| Sexual violations against children | 412.3 | 0.2 | 40% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 932.7 | 0.4 | 92% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 210.3 | 0.10 | 38% |
| Robbery | 2,329.3 | 1.1 | 43% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 371 | 0.2 | 74% |
| Other violent violations | 732.7 | 0.3 | 41% |
| Breaking and entering | 6,567 | 3.1 | 20% |
| Possession of stolen property | 667 | 0.3 | 66% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 9,140 | 4.3 | 4% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 1,353 | 0.6 | 9% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 25,416 | 11.8 | 17% |
| Mischief | 6,913.3 | 3.2 | 14% |
| Weapons violations | 510 | 0.2 | 65% |
| Administration of justice violations | 6,916.3 | 3.2 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 1,578.7 | 0.7 | 76% |
| Drug violations | 2,470.7 | 1.2 | 70% |
| Impaired driving | 1,728 | 0.8 | 94% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 6,866.3 | 3.2 | 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 to 10,000 people.
Montréal-Ouest comes 28th of the 40 towns nearest in size
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood Ontario | 5,308 | 25.2 | 31.4 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce Quebec | 5,339 | 44 | 75.8 | A− |
| 6 | Windsor Quebec | 5,368 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| 7 | Saint-Denis-de-Brompton Quebec | 5,249 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 12 | Morin-Heights Quebec | 5,086 | 53.5 | 71.6 | B |
| … | |||||
| 25 | Hearst Ontario | 5,032 | 74.2 | 97.9 | C+ |
| 26 | Gibsons British Columbia | 5,090 | 76.6 | 94 | C+ |
| 27 | Central Frontenac Ontario | 5,348 | 78.4 | 112.5 | C+ |
| 28 | Montréal-Ouest Quebec | 5,197 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 29 | Montréal-Est Quebec | 5,112 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 30 | Marystown Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,196 | 90.8 | 93 | C |
| 31 | Annapolis County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 5,086 | 96 | 107.6 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Nipawin Saskatchewan | 5,033 | 182.3 | 163.9 | 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 Montréal-Ouest in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
About 33,000 violent incidents a year across the police area of 2,172,300 residents that includes Montréal-Ouest, 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 62,300 property crimes, plus 22,100 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Montréal-Ouest, year by year
Crime Severity Index
The index started at its highest, 81.4 in 2023, and touched its lowest in 2025, at 78.4. Set beside it, the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 in 2023 to 64.2 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Montréal-Ouest | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.4 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 81.2 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 81.4 | 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 Montréal-Ouest, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Montréal-Ouest
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montréal-Ouest | 5,197 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Loyola | 26,607 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Côte-Saint-Luc | 37,901 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Vieux-Lachine - Saint-Pierre | 31,113 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Upper Lachine | 21,130 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Cecil-P.-Newman | 34,965 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| Hampstead | 7,464 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
The table leaves out 6 neighbours 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
- 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.
- A wider service area. The service that polices Montréal-Ouest reports once for its whole area, so the figures aren’t the town’s alone.
- The index’s scale. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- What clearance means. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
Questions about safety in Montréal-Ouest
Is Montréal-Ouest safe?
Police-reported crime in Montréal-Ouest scores 80.3 on Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (2023–2025 mean), with 15.4 violent incidents and 29.1 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 Montréal-Ouest?
Top of the list is theft under $5,000 (11.8 per 1,000 residents a year); assault, at 8.2, and fraud, at 5.4, follow.
Is crime going up in Montréal-Ouest?
Not much: the index went from 81.4 in 2023 to 78.4 in 2025.
How much of Montréal-Ouest’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 32%: 49% for violent crime and 21% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A shared service or detachment’s, reported as one for Montréal-Ouest and everywhere else it polices.
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).