Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Pessamit sees more crime per resident than 89% of Canadian towns
Against usual levels of 85.7 and 62.8, violent and non-violent offences here reach 348 and 57.6. From 2023 to 2025, crime the police covering Pessamit reported put it at D for safety. Typical years here bring 60.6 violent incidents plus 17.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 12.9 plus 31.2 in the typical town its size.
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.
What stands out about safety in Pessamit
Sexual assault: high for a town its size
Pessamit records 6.9 incidents of sexual assault per 1,000 residents a year, against 0.9 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. By type ↓
Violence weighs more than the rest
Pessamit scores 348 for violence and 57.6 for other crime; the typical Canadian town its size scores 85.7 and 62.8. By type ↓
Higher than most of Quebec
Set among Quebec’s towns, whose median is 56.1, Pessamit scores 139.7. Towns its size ↓
More crime solved
The weighted clearance rate, the share of crime police solve, is 59% for Pessamit (64% violent, 50% non-violent), beside 34% for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Questions ↓
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 Pessamit’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.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Pessamit, type by type
Against the typical town its size, Pessamit runs highest on sexual assault (6.9 per 1,000 against 0.9), assault (36.6 per 1,000 against 6.7) and drug offences (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.7). Fraud and theft under $5,000 sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7 | 2.8 | 53% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 3 | 1.2 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0.7 | 0.3 | — |
| Other violent violations | 3.3 | 1.3 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 4.3 | 1.7 | — |
| Possession of stolen property | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 3.3 | 1.3 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.3 | 0.1 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 12 | 4.8 | 42% |
| Mischief | 17.3 | 7 | 35% |
| Weapons violations | 2 | 0.8 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 32.3 | 12.9 | 74% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 2.7 | 1.1 | — |
| Drug violations | 5.3 | 2.1 | 32% |
| Impaired driving | 21 | 8.4 | 46% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 2 | 0.8 | — |
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.
Police in Pessamit recorded about 150 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 44 property crimes, plus 71 other violations, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot, one incident a year at the area’s rates.
Pessamit’s index, one year at a time
Crime Severity Index
2024 was the peak (159.7) and 2025 the trough (126.1). Over 2023–2025, the typical Canadian town its size moved from 74.3 to 64.2.
Every year as a table
| Year | Pessamit | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 126.1 | 64.2 |
| 2024 | 159.7 | 68.8 |
| 2023 | 133.4 | 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 Pessamit, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Crime in the places around Pessamit
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pessamit | 2,523 | 139.7 | 348 | D |
| Ragueneau (21 km) | 1,287 | 70 | 134 | C+ |
| Pointe-aux-Outardes (27 km) | 1,447 | 70 | 134 | C+ |
| Chute-aux-Outardes (27 km) | 1,406 | 70 | 134 | C+ |
The places around Pessamit all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Ragueneau (21.5 km away), scores 70 against 139.7.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Pessamit has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 21–27 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What the index measures. Each incident counts by its seriousness, judged from court sentences, and the total is set per resident. As Statistics Canada puts it, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
- A small police area. With roughly 2,523 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.”
- 100 is Canada in 2006. 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.
- Cleared, not convicted. Cleared means solved by police, charged or not; it says nothing about what courts decide.
Questions about safety in Pessamit
Is Pessamit safe?
Averaged over 2023–2025, the Crime Severity Index for Pessamit comes to 139.7. Per 1,000 residents a year, police logged 60.6 violent incidents and 17.8 property crimes. Across Canadian towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, the median is 68.5.
What is the most common crime in Pessamit?
Top of the list is assault (36.6 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 15.5, and Criminal Code traffic offences, at 10.9, follow.
Is crime going up in Pessamit?
No: the index fell 5%, from 133.4 in 2023 to 126.1 in 2025. A small or partial count makes this change uncertain.
How much of Pessamit’s crime do police solve?
Police cleared 59% of crime once each incident is weighted by seriousness: 64% of violent crime and 50% of the rest, against 34% for the typical Canadian town its size.
Whose figures are these?
They are Pessamit’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
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).