Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0Recorded crime per resident is lower in Orford than in 84% of Canadian towns
For solved cases, the weighted rate is 40%, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 34%. Its police logs show 8.2 violent incidents and 7.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical town its size the numbers are 12.9 and 31.2. A Safety Grade of A− follows from crime the police covering Orford reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #73 of 503 in Quebec. Of the two halves, violence comes to 58.3 and other offences to 32.9, 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. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts published for the Memphrémagog MRC, not by town.
What stands out about safety in Orford
Easing since 2023
Between 2023 and 2025, Orford moved from 45.1 to 34.8, while the typical Canadian town its size went from 74.3 to 64.2. Year by year ↓
A lower index than most towns its size
Counting up from the lowest index, Orford is 8th of the 40 Canadian towns closest in population. Towns its size ↓
Lower than most of Quebec
Set among Quebec’s towns, whose median is 56.1, Orford scores 39.9. 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.
What’s behind Orford’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: #73 of 503 in Quebec and #306 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 Orford, type by type
Mischief and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 11 | 0.6 | 48% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Robbery | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 0.2 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 32.3 | 1.8 | 16% |
| Possession of stolen property | 2.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 13 | 0.7 | 2% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 6.7 | 0.4 | 10% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 21.7 | 1.2 | 23% |
| Mischief | 23.3 | 1.3 | 23% |
| Weapons violations | 3 | 0.2 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 15.3 | 0.8 | 87% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 11 | 0.6 | 27% |
| Drug violations | 9.3 | 0.5 | 29% |
| Impaired driving | 25.7 | 1.4 | 98% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 13.3 | 0.7 | 10% |
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.
Year by year in Orford: down 23%, 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
Its index has not been as high since 2023 (45.1); the low point came in 2025, at 34.8. 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 | Orford | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.8 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 39.9 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 45.1 | 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 Orford, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Orford is 8th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Ferris Ontario | 5,835 | 17.7 | 27.2 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 5 | Southwold Ontario | 5,473 | 31.5 | 41.2 | A |
| 6 | Verchères Quebec | 5,819 | 37.1 | 58.5 | A |
| 7 | Hudson Quebec | 5,533 | 39.2 | 61.7 | A |
| 8 | Orford Quebec | 5,698 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| 9 | Waterloo Quebec | 5,714 | 45.3 | 73.7 | A− |
| 10 | New Glasgow Prince Edward Island | 5,502 | 46.6 | 50.7 | A− |
| 11 | Gananoque Ontario | 5,568 | 47.6 | 61.3 | B+ |
| 12 | Lac-Mégantic Quebec | 5,947 | 48.4 | 81.3 | B+ |
| 13 | Val-David Quebec | 5,920 | 48.8 | 71.8 | B+ |
| 14 | Cookshire-Eaton Quebec | 5,491 | 50.5 | 89.1 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 16 | Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan Quebec | 5,675 | 54 | 93.4 | B |
| … | |||||
| 40 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 572.1 | 753.3 | 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 Orford in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Around 150 violent incidents a year in the 18,800-resident police area around Orford, 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 150 property crimes, plus 210 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 Orford
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orford | 5,698 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Magog | 30,764 | 42 | 55.3 | A− |
| Eastman | 2,706 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Austin | 1,959 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley | 2,938 | 39.9 | 58.3 | A− |
| Saint-Denis-de-Brompton | 5,249 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
| Racine | 1,441 | 45 | 82.8 | A− |
Each neighbour with its own figure comes in over Orford. The comparison skips 3 neighbours reported under the same police.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The clearance rate. A crime is cleared when police lay or recommend a charge, or solve it another way; the weighted rate counts serious crimes for more.
- Severity, weighed. One robbery outweighs a run of minor thefts here, since every crime counts by the sentences courts give it. Statistics Canada adds: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- One figure for the MRC. The Sûreté du Québec’s figures are for its MRC as a whole, not for Orford alone.
- What 100 means. Statistics Canada set the national index at 100 for 2006; every figure here is read against that.
Questions about safety in Orford
Is Orford safe?
Statistics Canada puts Orford at 39.9 on its Crime Severity Index over 2023–2025; Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people sit at 68.5 in the middle. Violent incidents run at 8.2 and property crimes at 7.9 per 1,000 residents a year.
What is the most common crime in Orford?
The three biggest groups are assault at 3.6, fraud at 2.4 and Criminal Code traffic offences at 2.3, each per 1,000 residents a year.
Is crime going up in Orford?
Over 2023–2025 the index dropped 23%, to 34.8 from 45.1.
How much of Orford’s crime do police solve?
The weighted clearance rate is 40%: 59% for violent crime and 26% for non-violent. For the typical Canadian town its size it is 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Orford and other places, so the figures are shared.
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).