Photo: Wilfredor · CC0Per resident, Charlesbourg records about as much crime as the typical place among Canadian towns
Its police logs show 15.1 violent incidents and 22.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the typical Canadian town of 50,000+ the numbers are 10.8 and 25.1. Across all the graded crimes, Charlesbourg lands on B− (#289 of 503 in Quebec): close to the middle of Canadian towns, on crime its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Split in two, the index gives 89.4 for violence and 53 for everything else (normally 75.2 and 54.2).
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. Area behind the crime severity and crime rate figures: the Québec service area.
Inside Charlesbourg’s B− for safety
How sure: A less certain grade than most: it reads the city’s overall figure, which can hide how Charlesbourg itself compares.
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: #289 of 503 in Quebec and #951 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
Which crimes make up Québec’s figures
These are Québec’s figures, for its police’s whole area: they aren’t published by neighbourhood.
Against the typical town its size, Québec runs highest on drug offences (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.9), assault (6.8 per 1,000 against 4.9) and sexual assault (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.8). Mischief and motor vehicle theft sit below it.
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4.7 | 0.01 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 158.7 | 0.3 | 57% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 294.3 | 0.5 | 91% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 40.7 | 0.07 | 58% |
| Robbery | 140.7 | 0.2 | 44% |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 95.7 | 0.2 | 80% |
| Other violent violations | 222.7 | 0.4 | 48% |
| Breaking and entering | 1,561.3 | 2.5 | 19% |
| Possession of stolen property | 130.3 | 0.2 | 41% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 683.3 | 1.1 | 12% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 257.3 | 0.4 | 7% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 5,452.3 | 8.7 | 20% |
| Mischief | 1,807.7 | 2.9 | 13% |
| Weapons violations | 160.7 | 0.3 | 56% |
| Administration of justice violations | 2,199 | 3.5 | 91% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 298.3 | 0.5 | 46% |
| Drug violations | 957.3 | 1.5 | 77% |
| Impaired driving | 933.7 | 1.5 | 99% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 522.3 | 0.8 | 10% |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment: incidents a year are its own, the town’s share is only estimated in the tiles. 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 50,000 people or more.
Charlesbourg’s index held steady from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
The latest year was its heaviest: 2025, at 63.5, with 2023 the lightest at 62.5. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 50,000+, runs from 64.3 in 2023 to 59.2 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Charlesbourg | Typical town of 50,000+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 63.5 | 59.2 |
| 2024 | 63 | 59.9 |
| 2023 | 62.5 | 64.3 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Charlesbourg, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Crime in the places around Charlesbourg
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlesbourg | 9,660 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Jésuites | 15,792 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Saint-Rodrigue | 12,018 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Orsainville | 14,751 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Bourg-Royal | 14,430 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf | 37,164 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| Lairet | 15,251 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
Neighbours policed by the same service carry the same figure, so the 6 of them aren’t set against it.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Solved cases. The clearance rate is the share of incidents police solve, by a charge or otherwise, weighted by seriousness like the index. It isn’t a conviction rate.
- How serious, not how safe. 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.”
- City-wide figures. No open data breaks the city’s crime down by neighbourhood, so Charlesbourg carries the city-wide figures.
- Reading the number. Canada’s own index has been below its 2006 base of 100 for years, so 100 marks a fixed reference, not today’s national average.
Questions about safety in Charlesbourg
Is Charlesbourg safe?
With 15.1 violent incidents and 22.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, Charlesbourg comes to 63 on the Crime Severity Index (2023–2025); Canadian towns of 50,000 people or more have a median of 60.3.
What is the most common crime in Charlesbourg?
Theft under $5,000 is the most common, at 8.7 per 1,000 residents a year, then assault (6.8) and fraud (5.9).
Is crime going up in Charlesbourg?
The index stayed close to where it was, 62.5 in 2023 and 63.5 in 2025.
How much of Charlesbourg’s crime do police solve?
Police solve 53% of violent crime and 26% of everything else, 37% overall once each crime is weighted by seriousness, against 38% for the typical Canadian town of 50,000+.
Whose figures are these?
The city force’s, one set of figures for the city.
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).